TSR 2110 PHBR1 The Complete Fighter's Handbook

Gladiators they lose considerable audi- gladiatorsand ex-gladiatorsgo-
There are two ence popularity and political ing out intothe world and right-
clout. ing wrongs. When a city is
interesting approaches to hav- being bled dry by a tyrannical
ing a gladiator-based cam- In anotheradventure, apopu- ruler, the gladiators show up
paign. lar slave-gladiator leadsa rebel- and cast him down. When the
lion; do our heroes, if they're Emperor's daughter is kid-
You could have a campaign free gladiators, help the rebel- napped and ransomed, the Em-
lion or help repress it? peror doesn't call on his crack
centered around the gladiato-
rial arena. Each character is a In another adventure, the en- guardsmen: he asks the gladia-
different type of gladiator: One emy patron manages to frame
novice, one square-jawed hero one or more of the heroesfor an tors to rescue the princess.
adept at everything, several insult they did notperform,and Suchadventuresoften have a
gladiators each specializing in they are challenged to arena-
one interesting weapons com- battle to the death by a group of lot of broad comedy in them.
bination. The campaign deals noble heroes they do not wish Gladiators usually have fierce
with the hero-gladiatorsin their unarmed-combat abilities so
efforts to survive not only the to fight. . .and so on. that they don't have to kill
arena but the plotting and common-grunt guardsmen in
trickery of gladiators belonging However, though many ad- every tavern brawl.
to a rival patron. ventures can be generated
aroundthecoliseumlife, sucha Myrmidons
In one adventure, the ene- campaignis inherently limited, In the Myrmi-
mies might drug our heroes' and will either end fairly soon
food before the heroes are due or branch out into other adven- dons campaign, the player-
to fight some particularly fierce tures. characters are all heroes with
monster on the sands: if the he- the Myrmidon Warrior Kit.
roes fight,they are in extra dan- If you're familiar with Italian They're either part of an elite
ger because of the drug's unit in a regular army or guard,
effects, and if they do not fight, sword-and-sandal movies, you or they're a small, efficientmer-
know of one way such a cam-
paign couldbranch out. In such

49

pr sRole-Playing

cenary team who've worked to- Noble Warriors and even completely overthrow
gether for years (beforethe cam- that lands system of rulership. In
This is a cam- a Noble Warriors campaign, the
paign began. that is). paign of knights and chivalric PCs will instead help put down
This campaign is best suited doings. Some of the characters
are traditional medieval the rebellion .. . and then the
to providing the characters with
interesting military and tactical knights, some are their squires: g d ones among them will in-
situations. others may be warriors or mer-
cenaries accompanying their vestigate the cause of the rebel-
For example, in one adven- party, or other types of charac- lion, and perhaps depose the evil
ture, their superiors/employers ters being escorted by them (no- lords on their own. At that point,
instruct them to rescue a kid- blemen and noblewomen, they'd elevate the next person in
napped ambassador from an priests, etc.).
old, abandoned fort that is now line for the throne or lordship .. .
occupied by banditkidnappers. This type of campaign differs
The heroes are given a map of greatly from the Cavaliers cam- as long as he was a noble enough
the place, a certain amount of character.
gold for equipment, and a dead- paign in that the Noble Warriors
line (never more than a few don't have to be staunch sup- In Noble Warrior campaigns,
days).They have to work out all porters of goodness and light. if the PCs all agree to it, they can
the plans of the assault and res- all be unchivalric boors. Per-
cue, then go in, retrieve the kid- Some will be true heroes: some haps they all prefer to be robber-
napee, and escape with him will be self-centered boors. But barons and ill-tempered
they share the common ties of knights. If that's the case, and
unharmed if they're to get their knighthood and nobility, so they the DM has no problem with it,
money or the commendation of usudy get along with one an- that's fine.
other.
their superiors. Peasant Heroes
In other adventures, the char- For an idea of what sortsof ad-
ventures are appropriate to a In a campaign
acters' unit might be part of a Noble Warriors campaign, you dedicated to Peasant Heroes,
much larger military force fight- need only read the books and you have much the same situa-
see the movies, available in the tion as with Barbarians and Ber-
ing a long-standing war: some hundreds or thousands, appro- serkers. Three good approaches
priate to such characters. In par- for campaigns are the Town De-
adventures will be stand-up ticular, the novels of Sir Walter fenders, Peasant Heroes Out in
combats with enemy troops, the World, and Peasant Heroes
Scott and the chronicles of the Aiming for the Crown, much as
some will be reconnaissance doings of Camelot are very ap- the Barbarian campaigns were
missions behind enemy lines, propriate source material (and, structured.
no,not all the knights of Came-
some will be rest and recreation lot were Cavaliers: some were There are differencesbetween
binges in nearby civilian towns. brutes). the Peasant Heroes and Barbari-
ans campaigns, though. In the
In most cases, the players In Noble Warriors campaigns, Barbarians campaign, the
should have the opportunity to the heroes wander the land player-characters are outsiders
plan out their own military oper- righting wrongs by sword or in this civilization, and civiliza-
ations. This gives them a lance: they fight dragons which tion itself is bad-decadent,
greater sense of satisfaction lair in menacing caverns in the crumbling, not at all admirable.
In a Peasant Heroes campaign,
.when the plans succeed. . and deepest woods: they defend the the player-characters belong to
land against infidels and in- this civilization: they are, in
a better understanding of how vaders: they compete with one fact, small-town folk who are
things work in the game-world another in friendly tourna- much admired. Civilization is
when the plans fail. ments and unfriendly clashes not bad or ruinous, though the
between rival kings or barons: nation may be ruled by dissi-
Obviously, this is a very pro- and they raise and lead great pated nobles who have to be
military campaign setting, and armies on overseas crusades. overthrown or eliminated (leav-
the PCs and their NPC friends ing the throne open, of course,
won't tolerate differing out- They also defend the preroga- for one of the Peasant Heroes to
looks. Minor villains in this cam- tives of their class. For instance. take).
paign include officerswho know in a Cavaliers campaign. the CF'
heroes might join a peasant's re- One very appropriate Peasant
less about military operations bellion against the lands rightful Heroes mini-series to play
than the PCs, or officers who de- (but greedy and abusive) rulers,
liberately sacrificesubordinates

in order to gain success and pro-

motions: so are civilians who

rabidly oppose the ongoing con-
flict,those who are disrespectful
of soldiers, etc.

0

rRole-Playing

would involve a Foreign Inva- Pirates and Outlaws they’re in a bad position.
sion. Troops from the neighbor- It‘s quite en- On the other hand, victims
ing enemy nation pour over the
border and swarm through the joyable to have a whole cam- who are their true enemies
PCs’ country, slaughtering or paignwhere everyoneis a pirate (wicked representatives of the
enslaving everyone in their or outlaw. In pirate campaigns, evil rulers, personal enemies,
path. One large unit of enemy all the characters are raiders of tax collectors, competing pi-
soldiersapproachesthe PCs’ vil- the seas: in outlaw campaigns, rates and outlaws with no scru-
lage. The PCs and their allies everyoneis a lawlesswarrior. In ples, and self-centered
must fight and keep the enemy both campaigns, the bands of money-grubbers of any sort)
at bay to give the villagers time characters prey on the weak tend to be humiliated and em-
to escape. Afterward, hopefully, (butwealthy) and may have im- barrassed while they are pris-
the PCs themselves can escape portant goals to achieve other oners of the PCs. Unless they
into the nearby wilderness to than just taking money away behavevery stupidlyand attack
figure out what to do next. from people who have too much the PCs. they, too, are likely to
ofit. be released unharmed: if they
Their nation has been caught do attack, they tend to be bat-
by surprise and overwhelmed The DM should determine tled in single combat, and usu-
by this sudden attack: the capi- ally are killed. Enemy prisoners,
tal is taken,theking imprisoned and then make it clear from the ifreleased,alw tendto reappear
or executed. The heroes have outset whether this is a “good
the option of fleeing their land guy” or “bad guy” campaign. in the story down the line . . .
for some nationnot yet taken by
Good-Guy Outlaws and Pirates usually at a time when they can
the invaders . . . or arranging a If it‘s a “good do a lot of harm to the player-
characters.
resistanceand revolt movement guy” campaign, the player-
to take the nation back from the The main goal of this sort of
invaders. From episode to epi- characters are heroes . . . but campaign is restoring the old
sode, the heroes can make and status quo. If the characters
then execute their plans: Hany- misunderstood. used to be law-abiding citizens
ing the enemy troops, building They may have been framed and are now wanted by the law
the resistance army up to for the wrong reasons, their
greater strength,going on sabo- for crimes they did not commit, eventualgoalis to provetheirin-
tage missions into dangerous and were forced to flee the au- nocence. If the land used to be
invader-held temtory, raiding thorities(it‘s hard to prove your ruled by a wise ruler who is now
armories, kidnapping impor- innocence when you’re swing- imprisoned or dead, the charac-
tant invaders, anticipating and ing from a gibbet). They may be ters’ goal is to release him from
thwarting invader repercus- enemiesof thenew ruling power prison or find and crown his
sions, and eventually throwing (if a wise old ruler dies and is re- wise true heir.
off the yoke of the enemy alto-
gether. placed by an oppressiveand un- Often,theheroes’ forceof men
(pirateship or outlaw band) will
Such a campaign could go on fair new ruler, that‘s ample prove useful to someone in a po-
for years, and when it was done, justification to embark on a life sition of power (like the rescued
and the enemy was in retreat,
could change into an altogether of outlawry. . .in the game and ruler or another powerful no-
different sort of campaign. The
surviving PC heroes could be the movies, anyway). ble), and that personage will is-
knighted, and commence a No- In such a campaign, the char- sue them pardons and
ble Warriors campaign; or. now commissions into his army or
that their work is done, they acters are wanted by the law, navy just before the slam-bang
could find themselvesunable to but it‘s the law that’s wrong, climax of the campaignor mini-
return to their normal, worka- and the heroes treat their cap- series.
day lives and decide to become tives and victims with golden-
raiders of the high seas (i.e., rule ethics. Bad-Guy Outlaws and Pirates
pirates). If it’s a “bad
In other words, they’ll capture
innocentsand take their money guy” campaign, the DM and
players will have to define the
and goods . . . but they’ll offer campaign goal. It may be noth-

no insult to victims who deserve ing more than the acquisitionof
none. will tend to release such treasure over years of outlawry.
prisonersunharmed. Inevitably, It may be considerably more
some of these former prisoners
will be re-introduced in the
story in an upper-handposition.
and may be able or willing to
help the unlawful heroes when

Role-Playing .. .,, . ,. . .
.i P.
tieasure buried by a fa&ous .I
longdead pirate, or the execu- ?.-Y.LLP’$ (I”

tion of a brilliant robbery plan. .. ., . . ,, :’,
‘civilizedworld than the barbar-
The bad-guy campaign is replacinghim lateron):&e cam- ian character. They’re not as
mostly suitable to characters of likely to want to become rulers
neutral or evil orientation, and paign might instead deal with in the outside world, because
to players whojust want to play expeditionsintounknown lands they don’t like it as much.
in a nasty fashion for a while. (such as the usual player- Jungle Kings: You could have
Their characters don’t have the character setting, which cre- the campaign revolve around a
dainty ethicsof the good-guypi- ates, just like in the Amazons Jungle King: A powerful savage
rates and outlaws. No, they rob description above, the opportu- warrior who may have been
everyone, from other villains to nity for a “clash of cultures” reared by or spirit-bonded with
virtuous maidens to pious cler- mini-series). somesort of nobleanimal (apes,
gymen. Prisonersin their hands wolves, lions, etc.). The Jungle
won’t know what to expect: If the characters are ronin. King character is often the
they may get not-too-uncom- friend of one savage tribe (in-
fortable imprisonment for ran- their usual adventurescould be cluding the other player-
soming purposes, or brutal mis- mercenary actions as they play characters), and can lead them
treatment, or death, or worse on all sorts of fantastic adven-
than death, however the player- a partin warfare in theirland: or tures. ’Treasure-hunting trips
characters feel. Further, the the campaign could be an exer- into eerie valleys (populated by
PCs’ feelings, and their treat- cise in outlawry, as with the pi- lost tribes, monsters out of an-
ment of prisoners, may change rates and outlaws description cient legend, or dangerous and
from day to day. above. These ronin character alien wizards), and elaborate
could be noble samurai driven raiding missionsagainstthe en-
This is a dangerous environ- intoa lawless and lordlessstate, croachments of civilization. are
ment and campaign. Since the or could be honorless bad-guy two good examples. Also, the
PCs are as scummy as their ronin with no interests beyond Jungle King seems always to
worst enemies, there probably survival, wealth, and killing fall in love with a woman from
won’t be any DM sympathy to people. the outer-worldcivilization,and
helpkeep them alivein bad situ- she, in turn, has a tendency to
ations. The PCs will be compet- Either way, if you intend to be kidnapped out of her new
ing on equal terms with the run a samurai campaign, you jungle haven: other adventures
nastiest of villains, and you can ought to buy the Oriental Ad- can involve missions to rescue
expect a high body count ventures game supplement, an her. (Naturally,a Jungle Queen
among Pcs and NPCs alike. character could find herself a
extensive AD&D@ game treat- civilized mate with the same in-
On the other hand, when clinations toward being kid-
ment of the world of oriental
you’re in a destructivemood, it role-playing. You won’t have to napped.)
adapt everything in it to your
can be a lot of fun. ADgLD 2nd Edition campaign. Savages In the Big City: If
Samurai but you’ll find useful material you’re interested in playing a
there anyway. comedy adventure, try running
In the samurai a scenariowhere a group of sav-
Savages age player-characters must en-
campaign, obviously enough, There are a lot ter a huge civilized city (for any
the characters are samurai or of the noble reasons discussed
ronin, and here you have the of ways to run a Savages cam- earlier, such as a rescue), but
same sort of division as you had paign. Here are only a few of play the adventure for laughs.
in the piratesloutlaws cam- them: The savageswill probably be as
paign. sneaky and clever as ever at
Just LikeBarbarians and Ber- creeping across rooftops in the
If the charactersare samurai, serkers: A campaign featuring moonlight, but try confronting
theirusual adventuresare likely savages as the player-char- them with objects and situa-
acters could be run practically tions more likely to get a laugh
to be missions for their lord. An identically to the campaigns than a combat response. Sav-
given for the Barbarians and ages from the unspoiled wilder-
ongoing campaign might deal Berserkers descriptions above. ness will not know how to cope
with the lord‘s campaign to be- The main difference is that Sav- with elemental-powered self-
age charactersare considerably driving chariots, bureaucracy,
come ruler of all the land (while more distanced from civiliza-
tion than barbarians are. They
the PCs maneuver for power be- don’t understand it nearly as
neath him, possibly with the in- well and are likely to be
alarmed,scared, offendedor put
offby many morefeaturesof the

52

distilled liquors,wizards, famil- knowing too much). In an Arctic Warriors cam-
iars, parades, magically-ani- The hemes are in a constant paign, the h a l seal or whale
mated street-sweeper ma*-
ery. dancing brooms cleaning competition to out-style the population might have
out the mage’s tower, talking other. In combat. each triesto be disappeared-been hunted to
swords, dance-halls for the un- the flashiest. In romance, each extinction, &just left for myste-
dead, or any such thing. tries to be the most witty, most
rious reasom. In the campaign,
Swashbucklers courteous. most gallant. Also, the PC heroes have to wander
over unexplwed regions to find
The Swash- they’re in similar competition
bucklers campaign is for play- with rival “C swashbucklers, giants, and artfier arctic perils
ers who want characters with a who are often members of a before they find their promised
lot of style adventuring in a so- competing military force or land.
phisticated setting. The Muske- fencing academy.
teers novels of Alexandre can run an ;all-militaYr. y caYOmU-
Dumas are a perfect source for In all, it‘s a campaign of great
character types, adventure style and showmanship. paign without it necessarily be-
ideas. and settings for such a
campaign. Wilderness Warriors ing an all-Mvrmidons cam-
In the Swashbucklers cam- In the Wilder-
paign, the player<- are p.ign.
elegant heroes, experts with the ness Warriors campaign, the
rapier, making their way in a playercharacters are members Possibly the most interesting
huge city. They tend talivehand-
of tribesor clans living in harsh way to do ws is to
to-mouth,gaining largetreasures
one day and spending through wilderness environments. Such
them in averyshort lime, sothey campaignsare,again,very simi-
may be rich and genmus one lar to the choices for Barbarians
day and s t f a l j q the% food the and Berserkers campaigns, but
next Thisis not a campa@ de- one of the differences and at-
voted to honest and hard- tractionsofthe Wilderness War- frictions ut@ a netghboring
riors campa@ is the setting.
working heroes. The PCsmay be -tobefairl€alaalre
as honorable as their players In such a campaign, the DM
want, but they’re still charming must go out of his way to spot- equally vulgar to foreign NPCs
rakeswho like to get by on as lit-
tle &oat as necesaq. light the wonder and danger of who don‘t dqserve such treat-
However,when danger looms, the setting. These are true wil-
they’ll gladly throw themselves derness adventures, where M-
into an adventure, one which ture and monsters are the ment; the may find them-
may lead them on a desperate characters’ enemiesmuch more selves in the uncomfortable
horseback race across the land frequently fhan enemy men or
demihumans. pasition of wing honor-hound
or into the dark catacombs un- to defend thg “enemy” from
der the city, where monsters And because wildernesses are their own dk@onorablecountry-
dwell. Adventures may lead so big and unexplored, the char- men!).
them from the court of their acters, in theirwanderings. may As the caitjpaign progresses
king, to the barracks of the na- encounter many unusual cities and the playercharacters gain
tion’s army (as they briefly be- and societies, ruins and trea- experience levels, increase the
come soldiers or commissioned friction betareen the nation$.
officers),to the front linesof the SW. OccasiomBx the PCs will run
ongoing war with a neighboring into foreign- spy-nests and spy-
power, to desperatemissionsbe- For example, in a Desert No-
hind enemy lines,to secret for- when the PCs
ays into the capital city’s prison mads campaign, the characters have achieve@high experience
(so that they might rescue the might be fighUng a rival nomad levelsand arehportant charac-
king’s secret twinor their friend tribe when a vast sandstorm, ters in the Nition, they should
who’s been imprisoned for lasting hours or days, forces beinonthe spark
them all to seek shelter. When
the storm blows over, it has un-
covered a long-buried city. The
two forces continue their war
through the streets, buildings,

and catacombs of the city . . .

while the ancient evil that was
buried with the city slowly

awakens. ..

the eventual war. For example, now a general in his own right), slowly,over time, and so PCsare
their king may ask them to ac- and the final battle with the
companyhim to the peace con- fresh forces of the evil enemy almost always created at low
ference where he and his old level, usually 1stlevel.
enemy are supposed to patchup ruler is still to come. . .
their differences, marry their As the PCs develop, their play-
children to one another. and Insuch a way, you can sustain ers sometimes become very at-
sign mutual nonaggression
pacts. But when they’re there, an all-military campaign for tached to them,so much so that
something goes drastically many months of game-time,
wrong: Perhaps dopplegangers and resolve important conflicts when a characterdies (in such a
and storylinesin your campaign fashion that he cannot be
pretending to be the PCs assas- world. raised,it is very upsetting to the
player.
sinate the foreign king, while Campaign vs.
dopplegangers pretending to be Mini-Series Mini-Series
the greatest heroes of the other The mini-
nation assassinate the PCs’ Though you
king. (The dopplegangers, of can take any of the above cam- series, on the other hand, typi-
course, are under the control of paign ideas and make it into a cally covers one extended
the evil king of a third nation, formal campaign, one which is story-the acquisition of one
who intends to move in, pick up supposed to continue episode treasure, the defeat of one spe-
the pieces, and conquer every- cifc master villain,the explora-
one when these two nations after episode until the DM and tion of a newly-discovered
have beaten each other to playersgrow tired of it, you can island, the resolution of a war
pieces.) also run any of them as a mini- between nations. It may be
series, a campaign which is de- played in a single session or go
At this p i n t , war is inevita- on for a dozen, but the DM and
ble, and the PCs are put in com- liberately run only for enough players know that it‘s supposed
mand of an entire army. For the episodes to complete one full- to be limited in scope.
remainder of this extended length story. In a sense, the reg-
storyline, the PCs have to lead ular campaign is like a TV Its characters are rolled up
their men in combatagainsten- series, while the mini-series is and can be played quite differ-
emy forces, defending their own like a novel or movie. ently. Since they are “tempo-
nation or penetrating into the rary” characters, they can be
enemy territory: meanwhile, Campaigns created at a level best suited to
they’ll be doing their own ad- The campaign the plot of the story. If the sce-
ventures and investigations, nario is supposed to involve a
trying to come up with proof goes on over a long period of
that the two rulerswere assassi- crack squad of cavalrymenon a
nated by a third party. not by time and encompasses many
the heroes of the two nations. smaller stories and goals: it special mission, everyone could
sometimes goes through cast be created at 5th level. If it‘s to
Once the two armies are get- changes as the principal heroes be powerful, experienced
tingseriouslytired andhurt, the die, leave, or retire. knights on a quest, everyone
PCs should be able to come up could be created at 9th level. If
with the proof they need. They The bright promise of the it’s to be legendaryheroestrans-
convince the new rulers of both campaign is that, so long as the ported from the past at the peak
nations of the identity of their of their powers, they could be
true enemy. At this point, it‘s DM and playersremaintogether created at 20th level or higher.
time for the two armies to join and interested,it can go on for a
forces (and swallowing down In some regular campaigns,
their many years of mutual dis- long, long time: the characters PCs die regularly. If the DM of
trust, especially after the last can participate in adventure af- such a campaign runs a mini-
several months of fighting, will ter adventure, story after story.
be particularly hard, leading to The campaign can chronicle series, the players can expect
even more plot opportunities). generations of the adventurers’ the same, but probably won’t
Now, the two battered armies families, as the original adven-
march into the third nation, the turers sire children who them- mindso much because the char-
selves grow up to be the
player-characters. acters were “temporary” any-
way.
In a campaign, PCs are de-
signed to be played practically In some regular campaigns,
forever. You figure on the char-
acter growing and developing the DM tends to protect the PCs

a littlebit, covering over for little
errors which could be fatal, es-
pecially when they take place in
incidents which are not impor-

54

1

tant to the campaign or current mini-series can band together For most people, the cam-
storyline. In a mini-series, on again to meet a new challenge, paign is the most satisfyingfor-
the other hand, the DM is likely joined by new heroes (replace- mat. But, also for most people,
to be more deadly (because no ments for those who fell in the thecampaigngetsabit tiresome
one is quite so involved with his last story). The DM can fiddle after a while, and the group
character), meaning that the with experience levels as he breaks from it for a time. In that
setting and situation are more chooses, running one mini- time, it‘s very appropriateto run
dangerous: the playerswill have series(forexample)atfifth level, a short-termmini-series (or sev-
a greater sense of the danger to thesequelat ninth level,the sec-
ond sequel at 13th.and so on. eral). allowing the DM and play-
their characters in this trpe of
Switchlng BetweenThem ers to explore new settings and
setting. Because cam- charactersuntil they’reready to
One last optionwith the mini- pick up the regular campaign
paigns and miniseries are very again.
series: Though it is a very lim- different but equally compel-
ited campaign, deliberately This is the ideal forum for you
created so that it will soon end, ling, DMs should think about to try out some of the more unu-
the DM can always run mini- sual or outrageous campaign
series “sequels.” In the sequel, switching between them from ideas described earlier in this
the survivors of the original time to time. chapter.

55



The Warrior is a character Kneeling and Sitting stinctive reaction on the part of
whose primary function is com- A character
bat, and combat is what this themissilersin thegroup. While
chapter is all about. Though the whoiskneelingor sitting(forex- they’re ruing,magesand priests
ADBd)” game combat system is ample, because he’s been Can’t cast spells. other charac-
sufficient to most of your com- knocked down or injured)is at a ters can’t ready weapons. A
bat needs, this chapter will give disadvantage in combat. He knife expert can’t draw a knife
you optional rules and advice can’t move aroundas effectively and throw it in this split second;
which can add flavor to your and so cannot dodge incoming hecan only throw it if he already
game. attacks. For that reason, when-
ever someone attacks a victim has it in hand. In this split-
It’s important to remember who is kneeling. the attacker second, characters can take no
that everything in this chapter action other than,perhaps, to
is an optional rule: nothing rec- gets a + 1to hit; when someone
ommended here can be imple- talk or shout something brief to
mented in your campaign attacks a victim who is sitting, one another.
without the DMs permission.
the attackergetsa +2tohit;and Once that free shot is taken,
New Combat Rules on the fmt fullcombatround of
when someone attacksa victim the fight, roll initiative nor-
Here are some who is flat on his back (but mally. The party that was fired
optional rules you can add to aware of theattack and tryingto upon gets a +2 modifier for be-
combat in your campaign. avoid it), the attacker gets a +4 ing slightly disadvantaged by
to hit. the enemy’s missile superiority.
Off-Hand Weapc se
nu characters Attacking a character who is Remember that this option
held(by magic)orasleepisauto- can only be taken when one
are presumed to be better with matically successful, causing side. and not the other, has
one hand than the other-in real normal damage. ready missire weapons (i.e.,
life, most people are right- bows or crossbowsin hand with
banded, quite a few are left- When a characteris kneeling, arrows and quarrels already
handed. and only a very few are sitting, or on his back, he can nocked, or throwing weapons
truly ambidextrous. get to hisfeet one of two ways. If
he still has an attack left to per- such as spears, javelins, axes
When a character is first cre- form this round, he can give it
ated, the player should specify up, not make an attack, and and knives already in hand).
his handedness (right or left). If stand up instead. Or, he can
wait until after initiative is Also. the party which can take
he does not specify one, the DM rolled for the next round When this option doesn’t have to; the
it comestimefor him to describe
should assume the character is hisaction,he canstand up then, group does not have to flre upon
right-handed. without losingany of hisattacks another person, group or mon-
for that round. ster the instant it sees its target.
If a character, for whatever
Range and lnitiati If the group chooses not to, the
reason, fights with his off-hand Hclc 5: a rule to
insteadof his good hand, he suf- opportunity is lost and the char-
give some advantage to those acters have the usual optionsto
fers a -2 penalty to hit with all characters and parties (and talk to the other group: if they
monsters) which always have choose to fight, initiative is
attacks. For example, should a ranged attacksready.
character find himself with his rolled normally. The side with-
right hand chained to a wall, When two groups fmt come
and yet he needs to draw and within sight of one another at out the missileweapons doesn’t
throwa daggerand must use his distancesof 20 feet or less (here get the +2 modifier this time.
off-hand, he’ll then suffer the a “group” can consist of only
-2 penalty to hit. one person or creature, or can If the party is wandering
have more), and only one group around in conditionsof poor vis-
If you wish a character to be hasmissilecapabilityalreadyin ibility (such as a dungeon), the
ambidextrous, consult “Ambi- hand, that group gets a “free
dexterity,” below, under shot” with its ranged weapons. DM can rule that the target is
“Weapon Proficiency Slots:’
This isn’t a full combatround, barely visibleand that the party
cannot recognize many details
not a bonus round from sur- about the target: “Ahead of you

prise: It‘s a split second of in- in the corridor. about 60feet up.
you see a group of human-sized

silhouettes moving your way.
As you spot them, they spot
you, too, and slow down. You

can’t tell what they are . ..” At

this point. if the PCs have mis-

sile weapons and the NPr-

57

don’t, the PCs can take this free ber of extra languages the char- one when he is first created, but
shot, but are faced with the acter gets from high lntclligcncc may specializein more weapons
prospect of attacking an un- (see ’lhble 4, pagc 16, Playcr’s as he gains new slots.
known quantity. They could be Handbook). Thcsc cxlra profi- With that in mind, let’s elabo-
firing upon the High King and ciencies may be divided as the rate on the use of weapon profi-
his adventuring retinue, for all playerchoosesbetweenWeapon ciencies . . .
they know. Proficiencies and Nonweapon
. . When two groups both have Proficiencies.
ready missile weapons, neither Weapon-Group Proficiency
gets this option. Roll initiative
Single-Weapon Proficiency, However, let‘s
normally. (If two groups both Weapon Specialization look realisticallyat weapon profi-
ciency. Currently, if a character
have ready missile weapons, In the Playcr’s has Weapon Proficiency with
and one group spots the other Handbook, thc only things you DaggerDirk, he doesn’t have it
without the other group maliz- can do with Wcapon Proficien- with Knife. He certainly doesn’t
ing it, that groupwins initiative. cics arc take single-weapon prc- have it with Short Sword. Of
ficicncies and specialize in course,theDMcan alwaysv i d e
but doesn’t get the “free shot.” particular wcapons. that such weaponsare related to
one another. If he does, then the
Picture it this way: When the lb briefly review the informa-
fmt group looses its volley, the tion from that section: warrior would suffer a - 1 to hit
missilers of the second group
A character must have a Profi- with the unknown weapon in-
immediately turn around and cicncy with a wcapon to use it stead of the -2. (Seepage 52 of
loosetheirs. Sowe’re putin a po- normally. lb become proficicnt, the Player’sHandbook).
the character “spends” onc of
sition of normal combat.) ~. the Weapon Proficiency Slots he Still, to be proficient in all
Finally, for this option, re- has on that weapon. Each slot sortsof blades, from the Player’s
can buy proficiency with one
member that spell-type missile wcapon. If he uses a weapon Handbook and additional
abilitiesdon’t count, but “natu- he’s not proficient in. he suffers bladesfrom thisrulebook,you’d
an attack penalty: -2 for wcap- have to spend around, 14
ral“ ones do. A dragon’s bk-eath ons which are completely unfa- weapon proficiency slots, and
acts as a ready missile weapon, miliar, or - 1 for weapons that‘s too many.
as do a manticore’s tail-spikes. similar to those with which he
already has proficiency. (That So, we’re makingit possibfe to
However, a gold dragon’s spells penalty is worse for non- take weapon proficiencies with
don’t count, nor does a vam- Warriors.) whole weapon groups.
pire’s charming, for example.
To specialize in a particular For our purposes. there y e
Weapon Proficiency two types of groups: Tight
Slots Groupsand Broad Groups.

You know
about Weapon Proficiencies weapon. the character must de- Tight Groups
&am pages 51-52of the Player’s vote an extra weapon profi-
Handbook. Here, we’ll talk ciency slot to it. (In the case of A Tight We@-
about some additional, special bows or crossbows. it takes two ons Group consists of a set of
thingsyou can do in a campaign extra slots.) Whcn using hisspe- weaponsthat are very similarin
with Weapon Proficiencies. cial weapon, the character gets the way they are wielded. $

Intelligence and Proficiencies a + 1 to hit and + 2 to damage. It costs two Weapon ProR-
We’re going to ciency Slots to become profi-
(With bows and crossbows, he cient in an entire tight group.
be showing you a lot of interest- instead gets a new range cate- After paying those two slots,
ing things you can do wifi the gory, point-blank 6-30 feet Cor character will know how to use
Weapon Proficiencies rules. crossbows. 6-60 feet for bows. every weapon in that group
Therefore, you need to use the Within that range, he isat +2 to without the usual -2 penalty
rule for extra Proficienciesgiven
on page 51of the Player’s Hand- hit. Also. if his weapon is ready for unfamiliarity (that -2 is fcs
book. There, it says that you and there’s a target in sight. he
may, with the DMs permission, Warriors:with other classes,the
take extra proficiencies when can fire in the combat round be- penalty is more severe, as de-
first created equal to the num- fore initiative is rolled.) scribed on page 52 of the Play-
er’s Handbook).
Only single-class warriors
(fighters,paladins,and rangers) Following are several exam-
can take weapon spceialties. ples of Tight Groups. Any
Such a character can only take

58

I

Composite long bow, -.Fauchard, in thecampaign-then the char-
Composite short bow, acter with the group proficiency
Fauchard-for will be able to use it at no pen-
Footman’smace, Glaive, alty, while the character with
Horseman’smace, Glaive-guisarme, proficiency injust the two exist-
Morning star, Guisarme,
Warhammer. Guisarme-voulge, ing axes will suffer the attack
Halberd,
Crossbows: Hook fauchard, penalty.
Hand crossbow, Lucern hammer, These categories are very
DaggerDGk, Mancatcher,
Military fork, close to the related weapon
Knife/Stiletto* , Naginata’, groupsfrom page 52of the Play-
Parti- er’s Handbook, and your DM
Main-gauche*, can, if he wishes, use these cate-
Rapier’, RanseuI gories as related groups. This
helps determine whether or not
Sabre* . Spetum a warrior gets the full attack
‘Etsubo penalty when he uses a weapon
Flails: Voulge. unfamiliar to him, or whether
he receivesonly half the penalty
Footman’sflail, Short Blades: for using one similar to a
Horseman’s flail. weapon with which he hasprofi-
Daggermirk, ciency.
Lances: Knife/Stiletto*,
Heavy horse lance, Main-gauche., Broad Groups
Light horse lanc A Broad Weap-
Jousting lance, Short sword/Drusus*.
Medium horse lance. on Group consists of a set of
Si&- weapons that are somewhat
Long Blades: Sickle. similar in the way they are
Scythe. wielded.
Bastard sword,
Katana’, Slins It costs three Weapon F’rofi-
Long sword, Sling, ciency Slots to become profi-
Scimitar, staffsling. cient in an entire broad group.
lbo-handed sword. After paying those three slots,
Spears: the character will know how to
Medium Blades use every weapon in that group
Cutlass*. JHaavrpel-i1n, without the usual penalty for
Khopesh, Long Spear-, unfamiliarity.
Wakizashi’. Spear, Ifident.
Following are several exam-
Picks: Whipr ples of Broad Groups. As before,
Footman’s pick, Scourge any weapon marked with an as-
Horseman’s pic1 whip. terisk (*) is a-weapondescribed
in The Complete Fighter’s
Polearms: You’llnotice there’s a little over- Handbook, in the Equipment
Awl pike. chapter.
Bardiche, lap between the FencingBlades
Bec de corbin, and Short Blades group: some Blades:
Bill-guisarme, weapons are common to both Bastard sword,
Cutlass’.
groups. also notice that some DaggerDirk,
You’ll Katana’,
groups don’t look like they save Khopesh,
you any weapon proficiency Knife/Stiletto*,
slots. The Axes, Flails, picks. Long sword.
Sickles, Slings, and Whips Main-gauche*,
group all have two weapons
each in them. Since a tight Rapier* ,
group costs two proficiency
slots, it appears that there’s no Sabre.,
savings. Which is true . . . un- Scimitar,
less, in your campaign, other
weapons relatedtothose groups
are developed or introduced. If
they are-if, for instance, a
medium-sized war-axe appears

m
”

Short sword/Drusus*, for determining whether a char- ually for DaggerlDirk, Knife/
acter receives the full or partial Stiletto, Main-gauche, Rapier,
’ho-handed sword, attackpenaltyforusing an unfa- and Sabre.
Wakizashi..
Cleaving/CrUshing miliar weapon. Let’s say a character wants to
know how to use every type of
Weapons: Non-Croups
Battle axe, blade ever made . . . but he
wants to be especially goodwith
Belaying pin’, Finally,the fol- the Long Sword. As a flrst-level
Club, lowing weapons do not belong Warrior, he receives four
Fwtman’smace, in any sortof group whatsoever. Weapon Proficiency Slots to
Footman’s pick, lb learn any of these weapons. start with. He spends three to
Handlthrowing axe, the character must spend a take Proficiency with the entire
Horseman’s mace, Bladesbroad group,and spends
Horseman’spick, weapon proficiency slot on it,
Morning star, his fourth to specialize in Long
Warhammer. and none of these is similar in
use to any other weapon. When Sword. He has his wish: He can
Pole Weapons: a character picks one up and pick up and use any blade
Awl pike, uses it without being proficient weapon without penalty, but is
Bardiche, in it already, he suffers the full particularlyadeptwith the Long
Bec de corbin, penalty. Sword.
Bill-guisarme,
Fauchard. Weapons Not Belonging To Similarly, a character might
Fauchard-fork, Any Group: wish to be proficient with all
Glaive, bows, and especially good with
Glaive-guisarme, Arquebus, the Composite Long Bow. He
Guisarme, Blowgun, spends two weapon proficiency
Guisarme-voulge, Bola., slotsto be proficientwith the en-
Halberd, Chain’, tire Bows tight group, and
Harpoon, Gdhook’, spends two more slots (because
Hook fauchard, Lasso, bows are trickier to specialize
Javelin, Net, in-see the Player’s Handbook,
Lucern hammer, QuartersMiBo stick., page 52) to specialize in Com-
Long Spear*, Nunchaku’, posite Long Bow. This character
Mancatcher, Sai*. is at a disadvantage with any
Military fork, sort of weapon other than bows,
Naginata., Special Note: The Cestus* but can use all bows, and is es-
Partisan, doesn’t require any Proficiency. pecially good with the Compos-
Ranseur, It enhances punching damage.
Sickle, and everyone knows how to ite n?g Bow.
Scythe, punch.
Spear, NL-
Spetum, Weapon Specialization and That’s all you
lktsUbO*, Weapon Groups
ll-ident, need to know now aboutthe use
Voulge. Although it is
possible to become proficient in of Weapon Proficiencies . . . as
Small Throwing Weapons an entire group of weapons, this
DaggerDirk, doesn’t mean a character can they’re used to buy proficiency
specialize in an entire group of and specialization with weap-
Dart, weapons. ons. But there are more things
Handlthrowing axe, As before, each weapon spe-
to use these proficiencies on, as
cialization costs one Weapon
you’ll see as you proceed
through the chapter.

Knifelstiletto* , ProficiencySlotin a weapon the Ambidexterity
character is already proficient
Shuriken*. in. A character can’t pay two If a player
Again, you’ll see someoverlap points to be proficient in the wants his character to be ambi-
Fencing Blades group and then dextrous, as described above
between the Small Throwing another two to specialize in the under “Off-Hand WeaponsUse,”
Weapons group and other same group: He’d have to take he mustdevote oneweapon pro-
groups. one-slot Specializationsindivid- ficiency to Ambidexterity.

These groupsmay notbeused
I to calculate weapon similarity

-Combat Rules

If he does so, he’ll be able to Fighting Styles the Weapons chart), the weapon
ght normally with both hands, in the character’soff-handmust
and will be equally adeptatnon- It gives a cam be lighter in weight than his pri-
paign more color when the war mary weapon. This character
combattaskswith both hands. riors fight with different styles. can vary from a street-thief
This doesn’t give him two at- A huge warrior-knightwielding wielding two identical daggers,
a greatswordlooks and fights a to a fencer using a rapier in one
tacks per round. It just means lot differently from a slender
hand and a main-gauchein an-
that if he loses the use of one fencer carrying a rapier and
other. to a heavily-armoredwar-
hand, or drops the weapon in main-gauche. rior with a long sword in one
that hand, he’ll be equallyadept hand and a short sword in the
with the other. .Below. we’ll describe several other. Note: Read the Player’s
Handbook, page96, for therules
Style Speclalization common combat styles. .and
You can use on Attacking With ’ h o Weap-
the interesting things you can
7- iz.JeeainuocnePrtmaifnicsietynlceisesotfogshuteicniagl-, do with them by taking a Style ons.
Specialization. All Warriors start play know-
such as two swords, two-
handed weapon, and so on.We All these Fighting Styles refer ing how to use all four styles.
describe how to do this below. to fighting with melee weapons Priests start play knowing how
under “Fighting Styles.” only None of them applies to to use Single-Weapon, Yxo-
missile weapons.
.?Punchina and Wrestline Hander,and Weapon and Shield
I The Four Fighting Styles styles. Rogues start play know-
There are four
Specialization ing how to use Single-Weapon,
As you can common Fighting Styles em-
ployed by anyone using a melee ’ho-Hander. and ’ho-Weapon
pecialize in certain weapons. weapon. They are: styles.Wizardsstart play know-
you can also specialize in ing how to use Single-Weapon
Punchingand Wrestling. You al- Single-Weapon Style: The and ’ho-Hander styles. Charac-
ready know about Punching character wields a weapon in
and Wrestling from the Player’s one hand and carriesnothing in ters cannot learn new styles af-
Handbook, pages 97-98 here, the otherhand. The weapon can
you’ll learn how to improve a ter they’re created theseare the
character’sPunching and Wres- -be as short as a Dagger or as styles they are limited to by
tling abilities. You’ll h d this in- their choice of character class.
formation below, under loneasa BastardSwordor Long
“Punching, Wrestling, and Mar- A charactercan use a weapon
tial Arts.” SpeH:
’lbcrHander Style: The char- style he knows with a weapon
Martial Arts he does not know how to use.
Additionally. acter wields a weapon which re- For example, wizards know
quires (or at least
you’ll learn how make your accommodates) the use of two ’ho-Hander style . . . so they
character proficient (or even a hands. Such weapons include
specialist) in eastem-style mar- those which require two hands can learn to use a quarterstaff.If
(’IWo-Handed Sword. Polearms. a wizard who doesn’thave Profi-
tial arts. These rules work like and QuartersM, for instance) ciency with a quarterstaff picks
and those which can be used one up, he can still use the
the existing Punching and one-and two-handed (Bastard weapon in two hands. However,
Wrestlingrules,but constitutea Swordand Spear,for example).
whole new setof maneuvm and he suffersthe -5 attack penalty
Weapon and Shield Style:
tactics a skilled fighter charac- The character wields a weapon required by his unfamiliarity
ter can use in combat. These in his good hand and carries a and his characterclass.
rules, too, you’ll fmd below un- shield on his off-hand. This
combination can vary from a Each style conferssome basic
der “Punching. Wrestling. and street-bravo’s choice of dagger advantages and disadvantages
and small buckler to the classic when used. These are described
Martial Arts.” knight‘s choice of long sword in the descriptionsof each indi-
and body shield. vidual style, below. Addition-
ally,characterscan specializein
’lbo-Weapon Style The char- these styles. Singleclass war-
acterwields one weapon in each riors can eventually specialize
hand. Unlessboth weapons are in all of them: other classes can
onlyspecializeinone style,ever.
Small (S on the Size column on

61

Combat Rules

Specializing In the Styles Weapon Style Specialization. going at it, and one pins the oth-
You take a lbo-Hander Style Specializa- er’s weapon (see Pin, below, un-
tion, Weapon and Shield Style der “Melee Maneuvers”), the
Style Specializationby devoting Specialization, and ’Bro-Wap- single-weapon fighter can use
one weapon proficiencyslot to a his free hand to perform punch-
fighting style. on Style Specialization with it.
Between fi&hts. or even in the ing maneuvers: and he can try
Guidelines
course of the fight. he could to perform barehanded maneu-
To use a Style change the way he uses his vers (below,under “Punching,
weapon in order to gain dHer- Wrestling,and Martial Arts”).
Specialization with a specific entadvantagesinthecourseofa
weapon, you must have weapon combat. Disadvantages
proficiency with that weapon. Limitations on Style The main dis-
For example, a character might Specialization
have bought Style Specializa- advantage to this style is that
tion with ’bo-Hander Style. If A character the character does not gain the
he has Weapon Proficiencies may begin play with only one benefit of a shields AC bonus.
with polearms, he can use the Style Specialization. If he is a
benefits of Style Specialization singleclass Warrior, may learn Style Specialization
whenever he uses polearms.But others as he gains new Weapon If the charac-
if he doesn’t also have profi- Proficiencies through experi-
ciency with lbo-handed Sword, ence. ter devotes a weapon profi-
and picks one up to use it, he ciency to Style Specialization
doesn’t get the benefits of lbo- Only Warriors, Rogues and with Single-Weapon Style, he
Hander Style Specialization Priestscanbuy StyleSpecializa-
with that weapon. tions.OnlyWarriors and Rogues getsa +1AC bonus when using
can buy the lbo-Weapon Style
You can have both a Weapon Specialization.Onlysingle-class any one-handed weapon (for
Warriors can ever learn more which he has proficiency) in
Specialization and a Style Spe- than one Style Specialization. Single-Weapon Style. He
cialization in the same weapon. doesn’t get the bonus if he car-
Below are descriptions of the riesa shieldor weapon in his off-
but neither is dependent on the four FightingStyles. hand.

other;you can have one without Single-Weapon Style Additionally,he can devote an
the other. For example, a char- extra proficiency to Single-
acter could have Proficiency Single-Weap- Weapon Style and have a total
with Sabre, Specialization with on style means that the charac- +2 AC when fighting in this
Sabre, and then Style Speciali- ter wields a one-handed weapon style. That’s the limit, though:
zation in Single-Weapon style; in one hand and nothing in the He cannotdevotemore thantwo
he‘d be a master fencer with the other. Though in real life this proficiencies (for a total of + 2
sabre. Or, he could have just type of weapon use is often at a AC) with Single-WeaponStyle.
Proficiency and Specialization disadvantage compared to
in Sabre, or just Proficiency in -Two-Hander Style
Sabre and Style Specialization .many of the others. it’s very
in Single-Weaponstyle Two-Hander
popular in fdm and fiction . . Style involves carrying and
Multiple Style Specializations
A singleclass and so it has some virtue in the wielding a weapon with both
game.
Warrior can take more than one Advantages hands. Naturally, many weap-
Style Specialization. Weapons ons (including polearms, the
such as Bastard Sword, Javelin, The advan- great axe, the two-handed
and Spear, which can be used tage of single-weapon style in sword, and others) require two-
one-handed or two-handed, handed technique. Other weap-
with or without a shield, can’ the AD&D@ game is that the
have up to four different Style ons (such as bastard sword,
Specializationstaken for them. character keeps a hand free for javelin, and spear) have it as a
grappling, for switching weap-
Example: A single-class War- listed option. (’Rvo-handed op-
ons,for surprisemaneuvers,for tionsforHarpoon,Javelin, Long
rior has Proficiency with Bas- Spear, Spear, and n-ident are
whatever comes along in the given in the Equipment section
tard Sword. He could course of combat. of this rulebook, not in the Play-
theoretically take Single- er’s Handbook.)
For instance, two fighters are
!
62
i

Advantages someonewith ’ho-HanderStyle Advantages
The main ad- Specialization, it has a Speed The principal
Factor of (8-3) 5.
vantage of two-handed weapon advantage of Weapon and
technique is that it allows the This is because when a fighter Shield Style is that you get the
character to wield large two- wields such a weapon with both AC bonus of a shield; this is es-
handed weapons which can do peciallygood when you can fiid
substantialamountsof damage. hands on the hilt, he has more a magicalshieldwhich confersa
leverage on the blade and can better AC bonus.
A second advantage is that, if
you are using a two-handed move it faster. That’s what Style A second advantage is that
weapon, the Disarm maneuver Specialization in lko-Hander the character can use the
(see “Melee Maneuvers:’ below) is Style will do for the character: It Shield-Rush maneuver (below,
only of partial use against you. teaches him how to use the under “Melee Maneuvers”).
weapon much faster and more
A single successful Disarm aggressivelythan someone with Disadvantages
against a two-handed weapon less specialized training in the The disadvan-
user won’t knock the weapon weapon.
out of the wielder’shands: it will tage to Weapon and ShieldStyle
merely knock hisweapon askew One-Handed Weapons is that the left arm (right arm,
and makehim take sometime to Used Two-Handed for left-handed characters) is
recover, so he automatically Some players don’t realize that dedicated to the shield and is
loses initiative on his next many other one-handed weap- not much use for anything else.
round. ons can also be used two- If the character is disarmed, all
handed. Since these weapons he has to wield offensivelyis his ”
However, two Disarm maneu- don’t do any more damage two-
vers successfully made against handed, there usually isn’t shield, until he can get back to
the characterin the same round much reason to use them this
will knock the weapon loose. way; however, with Style Spe- his weapon. If he is pinned in
combat, he can’t use his shield
Disadvantages cializationin Wo-Hander Style, hand for grappling.
As with single-
now there’s a reason. Style Speclaiiution
weapon use, two-handed If you specialize in l k o - If you devote a
weapon technique has the
drawback that the user cannot Hander Style and then use a weapon proficiency slot to spe-
wear or use a shield,or gain the one-handed weapon in two cialization in Weapon and
shields AC bonus. hands, you also get a bonus of ShieldStyle, you receive one ex-
+ 1to damage. Thus, if you take
Style Specialization a ’ho-Hander Style Specializa- tra attack per round ... only
You can,by de- tion,when using a long sword
two-handed, you do ld8+1 when using a shield on the
voting a weapon proficiency to damage instead of the base Id8 shield-hand, that is. You can use
it, take a Style Specialization (or ld12+ 1vs. large targets, in- that extra attack only for the
with lko-Hander Style. stead of the base ld12).
Shield-Punchand Parrymaneu-
Style Specializationwith ”0- The one-handed weapons
Hander Style gives you a very which can be used two-handed vers (see under “Melee h4aneu-
specific benefit: When you’re in this fashion include: Battle vers.” below).
using a weapon two-handed, axe, Club, Footman’sflail,Foot-
that weapon’s Speed Factor is man’s pick, Horseman’s flail, As with the normal “Attack-
reduced by 3. Horseman’s mace, Horseman’s ing with ” 0 Weapons” rules
pick, Morning star, Long sword, (see the Player’s Handbook,
For example, a fighter with Warhammer. page 96). when striking with
’ho-Hander Style Specializa- both hands in a single combat
tion and wielding a Bastard Weapon and Shield round, the character suffers a
Sword can wield his weapon Style
faster in two-handed style than -2 to hit with his weapon and a
in one-handed style.Used in one This is the
hand, the Bastard Sword has a classic techniqueof using a one- -4 to hit with the Shield-Punch
handed weapon and carrying a
Speed Factor of 6. In two hands or Pany. (If you’re ambidex-
shield on the other arm.
(normally),it hasa SpeedFactor trous,as described above under
of 8. But used in two hands by “Off-Hand Weapons Use:’ that’s
a -2 with weapon and -2 with
shield.) If you devote a second
weapon proficiency slot to
Weapon and Shield Style Spe-
cialization,that penalty drops to

63

Combat Rules

0 with the weapon and -2 with your secondary, but with Spe- tion. he receives a + 1to hit and
cializationin ’ho-Weapon Style
the shield. (If you’re ambidex- it becomes 0 with your primary +2 to damagewhenever usinga
BastardSword,regardlessof the
trous, that penalty is 0 with weapon and a -2with your sec- techniquehe uses.
weapon and 0 with shield.)
ondary weapon. (If you’re al- When using the weapon in
On any round when you per- ready ambidextrous, as per Single-Weapon Style, one-
form two maneuvers,you do not “Off-Hand Weapons Use:’
get the AC bonus for the shield above, that penalty is 0with pri- handed, he gets a + 1 to AC.
for the rest of the round. If you mary weapon and 0 with sec-
swing your swordand perform a ondaryweapon.) Second,you’re When using the weapon in
Shield-Punch in the same livo-Hander Style, his weapon‘s
round, you do not get your allowed to use weapons of the speed factor drops from an 8
shields AC bonus if anyone at- (normal two-handed speed fac-
tacks you later in the round. same length in each hand, so torfortheBastardSword) toa 5,
you can, for example, wield two making it a verj. quick weapon
Two-Weapon Style long swords. in his hands.

With this pop- When fighting with two- Style Specialization and the
ular style, the fighter has a weapon technique, you can Character Sheet
weapon in each hand-usually a choose for both weapons to try
longer weapon in his good hand the same maneuver (for exam- Since style
and a shorter one in his off- ple, two strikes, or two disarms), specializations give the charac-
hand. Unless the character has or can have each try a different ter certain benefits in combat,
Style Specialization in this maneuver (one strike and one thesebenefitsneed to be written
style, the second (off-hand) parry, one pin and one strike). If down on your character sheet.
weapon must be shorter than the two maneuversare to be dif-
the primary weapon. ferent, each receives a -1 at- The character sheet has
tack penalty. blanks for all pertinent notes.
Advantages For example, with the Berris
One great ad- Though rangers don’t suffer character mentioned just
the off-hand penalties for two- above, the character sheet
vantage to this style is that you weapons use, they do not get a would include blanks with the
always have another weapon in bonus to hit if they devote a following information:
hand if you drop or lose one. A weapon proficiency slot to ’ho-
single Disarm maneuver cannot Weapon Style. They do get the Special Abilities and Restric-
rid you of your weapons. other benefit, of being able to
use weapons of equal length. ti0llS:
Disadvantages
The principal Sample Style i1 to hit
Specialization +2 damage Bastard Sword,
disadvantage to this style, as
with some other styles, is that Here’s an ex- + 1AC used Single-Hand,
you don’t gain the AC benefit of ample of how a character can
a shield. use the weapon proficiencies, Speed Factor 5 used ’ho-
weapon specialization, and Handed
Stvle Specialization style specialization rules to be-
Please read come very dangerous and very Weapon Proficiency Slots
versatile indeed. Available: 4
me “Attacking with ’ho Weap-
ons” section from the Player’s Berrisisa lstlevelfighter, but ProfwBastard Swd: 1
Handbook,page 96, before con- he’s already very accomplished Spec wBastard Swd: 1
tinuing. ~~ with his weapon of choice, the
Bastard Sword. He has taken Single-WeaponStyle: 1
If vou devote a weapon profi- Weapon Specialization with the ?tvo-HanderStyle: 1
ciency slot to style speckin- Bastard Sword (two slots), ?tvo-
tion with ’ho-Weapon Style, Hander Style Specialization Melee Maneuvers
you get two important benefits. with the Bastard Sword (one
First,your attackpenalty drops; slot), and Single-Weapon Style Strike and
before, it was a -2 with your Specialization with the Bastard counter-strike, strike and
Sword (one slot). counter-strike: That‘s the for-
mula for dull, mechanical com-
From his weapon specializa-
bat, and it’s no way to run the

sort of swashbuckling. action-
packed combatwhich shouldbe

the backbone of your AD&D”

game adventures.

.. . .,-

64

Sohere, we’ll be describingall Disarminga weapon warrants holds it up to throw: With one
sorts of different combat ma- its own maneuver, so you’ll find blow, you’ve protected your
neuvers which your characters “Disarm” below. friends and immolated an evil
can perform in combat. enemy. If a demonic foe has fi-
Striking A Specific Body Part
These maneuvers aren’t lim- As it mentions nally gotten his hands on the
ited to warrior-classes alone.
in the DMG. again under “Hit- Cursed Wand of Anti-Life, it’s
Anyone can perform any of ting a Specifc”%rget:* the nor- more than appropriateto fire an
arrow or quarreland smash it in
these maneuvers, provided he mal AD&@ game is not geared the demon’s hands.
has the right weapon or equip-
ment. Any priest with a shield toward a hit-location system Again, the DM decides how
can perform a Shield-Punch or which chronicles where every many points it takes to smash
Shield-Rush:any rogue or mage blow lands and which body such things. In the case of a vial
parts get injured. We’ll be pre- of liquid, it‘s not much-one or
with a good attack can Disarm a senting some options for that
sort of thing later in this chap- two at most.
foe. But warriors will be per- ter, but this section concerns
forming these maneuvers most something slightly different. Bypassing Armor
often. This option is
Monsters often have body
Each of these maneuvers, partsor featureswith extraordi- not present to let heroes bypass
when used in combat, consti- nary or magical effects: exam- or ignorethe AC value of normal
tutes one Attack. Characters ples include the eyes of the armor. If that were allowed, all
with multiple attacks per round beholder, tentacles of the car- PCs and all monsters would be
can mix and match their ma- rion crawler,individual headsof using the Called Shots maneu-
neuvers. A character with two the chimera, and so on. Many ver almost exclusively, which
attacksper round could perform animated statues are motivated would be very annoying.
one Strikeand one Parry,for ex- by a medallion, inscription, or
ample. one Called Shot and one imbedded gem. No. the Bypassing Armor op-
Disarm, one Pin and one Grab, tion is used when the DM hasin-
two Strikes, two Parries, or A hero can take a called shot troduced a monster or enemy
whatever combination he to attack those very specialized which can’t be beaten any way
wanted. except through the discovery

Called Shots locations; this is a very heroic and exploitation of its “weak
thing to do. It‘s up to the DM to spot.” Like Talos, the invulnera-
m e a look at determine how much damage ble bronze man of Greek myth,
the Dungeon Master’s Guide, such body parts can take: some these monsters are impossible
page 58. There, you’lI find the will take as little as 1 point of to damage (this is usually ex-
rules for Called Shots, under damage before being destroyed, pressed as a monstrousAC and
“Hitting a Specific %get.” while others may be expressed an invulnerabilityto any but the
As you’ll see in those rules, in fractionsof the creature’snor- most powerful of magical
when you wish to make a Called mal hit point total. weapons- +4 or better); how-
Shot, you announce this before ever, each one has a weak spot.
initiative is rolled, and you re- Smashing Something These weak spots are always
ceive a + 1penalty to your initia- Being Held visible to the eye, if the hero
tive. Then, when your turn thinks to look for it and can see
* comes up in combat, you suffer Often, an enemy will be holding the body part where it is. (For
a - 4 penalty to your attack roll. something and a hero will not example, a dragon might not
Naturally, you can take Called wish him to hold on to it. If the want to fly; this is so that it can
Shots with melee, thrown, and attacking character wishes to keep its wings folded down over
missile weapons, and even with knock it out of his hand, that’s its unarmored spots.) A clever
weapon-like spells such as the Disarm maneuver; if he warrior will realize that it’s cov-
magic missile. wishes to destroy it in the oppo- ering up for something and try
nent‘s hand, that’s Smashing to trick it into moving its wings.
Called Shots can be used for a Something Being Held.
variety of purposes. The most If a hero is bright enough to
important of these are: Disarm- If an alchemist is holding a look for the weak spot, and per-
ing a weapon; strikinga specifc bottle of flammable liquid to haps trick a monster into show-
body part; smashingsomething hurlat the party,it’s very heroic ing the weak spot, the warrior
being held: bypassing armor; to swing a sword or throw a can then take a Called Shot and
and special results. knife and smash it while he hit it. He’ll do the monster great

0

1 Combat Rules

damage (or perhaps kill it out- higher level or influence, it wsmillm und (see the Grab
right; that‘s for the DM to deter- he considered such an insult maneuver,below), he may use a
mine). that this enemy will not rest un- Called Shoton his next round to
Examples: A dragon which til you are dead. Thus, it is best put his dagger to the hostage’s
has invulnerable hide (but performed against enemy min- throat. This does no damage to
which, suspiciously. never ions to impressand scare them, the hostage, but the attacker
opens its mouth to breathe to persuadethemto runaway or can then, at any time, drive the
flame . . . because its inner help you. Performedagainsten- knife home for twice normal
mouth is not armored); a me- emies who are your equal in damage (which he will probably
chanical man with a small, ability or status, this maneuver do if the hostage does not sur-
nearly-invisibleslot used by the merely earns you a foe for life. render, or if someone else he is
Cutting Buttons Off. Each threateningdoesnot surrender.)
inventor to open it up (but
whicb a hero with a knife can successful Called Shot will en-
use to damage its internal ma- able a character to snip off one Disarm
chinery); a warrior with ar- button, brooch, gem or other
mored skin but an unarmored sartorial element from an ene- The Disarm is
ankle: a mummy which keeps my’s outfit.It can alsobe used to a specific variation on Called
onearm crossedoveritschest to flip a necklace off someone’s Shots. With the Disarm, the at-
protect its otherwise unde- head, spring the catch on a tacker takesa Called Shotat the
fended heart; a 9‘ high golem weapon his target is currently
whose weak spot is the unseen bracelet, etc. This has the same using.

good effects as carving initials
into someone, but will not earn
top of its head. you the enmity of an opponent Disarm VS. Single-Handed
Again, this only works when who is your equal. Weapons

the DM has created a monster Stapling.This classic maneu-
which can (or must) be defeated
With the basic
in this very way. If a fight isn’t ver is best performed with a Disarm maneuver, the attacker
going the characters’ way but thrownknifeor with anarrowor follows the normal rules for
the charactersare gradually do- quarrel, though it can be per- Called Shots (announcing his
formed with sharp melee weap-
ing damageto the monster,then ons. The target must be near intention before initiative and
the monster probably isn’t one some piece of furniture or wall,
of these invulnerable-beasts- receivinga + 1modifier to initia-

tive, and then sufferinga -4 at-
with-weak-spots,and it‘s point- and that furniture or wall tack penalty); if his attack is
less to take lots of calledshotsat should be wood, plaster, or any successful, he will (normally)
other material that such a cause his enemy’sweapon to go
.random body parts ’‘just in weapon will penetrate. With a flying from his enemy’s hand.
3. successful Called Shot, you sta-
ple some item of the target‘s
Special Results clothing (your choice) to that Roll 2d6. The numberrolled is
Finally, the nearby surface. The targetmust the number of feet the weapon
spend a combat round getting flies. Roll ld6. The number
W e d Shotcan be used foravari- himself free. (This does not re- rolled determines which direc-
ety of special results, especially quire any sort of roll: it just tion the weapon goes. (This is
neat and interesthg results such takes a few momentsto pull the describedin terms of the attack-
asthe onesyou see in moviesand er’s facing. Straight Ahead
fiction. Examples: knife free, tear the cloth of his means straight ahead from the
garment, whatever it takes.) If attacker: Behind means behind
canring Initials Into Some- the attacker.
one. Each successful Called someoneattackshim while he is
1 = StraightAhead
Shot will enable a character pinned, he suffers a -2 penalty 2 = Ahead,Right
with a sharp blade to slice one 3 = Behind,Right
letter or initial into a tabletop, a to AC (i.e., a 3 becomes a 5) and 4 = StraightBehind
attacks. If the target is stapled 5 = Behind, Left
wall . . . or the flesh of an oppo- and must defend himself while 6 = Ahead,Left
trying to tear himself free, he
nent.This doesonly one point of suffersthose AC and attack pen-
damage, and has one of two re-
sults:Againstan enemy of equal alties but will be able to tear
or lower level or influence,it can himself free after a total of three
cause the enemy to lose morale rounds.
I or surrender (DM choice): Hostage-Taking. If a charac-
against an enemy of equal or ter successfully grabs a victim

66

This Disarm can also be used Naturally,the two Disarmma- sword will still be out ofline, or
on magic wands, crystal balls, neuvers don’t have to come he canrecoverfrom theDisarm.
and any other sort of magical
apparatus which is held in one from the same character. ’ h o He chooses to recover. He
hand. If the item is worn (like swings the weapon back into
jewelry), it cannot be Disarmed. characterscan work together to line and is ready forthe next ex-
(Note: Weapons, when used, disarm the two-handedwielder: change. He s d e r s no initiative
cannot be worn likejewelry.) or, one character with multiple penalty on the next turn.
attacksin a roundcan do thejob
Disarm vs. Two-Handed himself. Disarm V.I Shields
Weapons Disarm is only
If a character fmds his two-
Disarm does handed weapon partially dis- of partial usefulness when
not work nearly so well against armed. and he still has at least struck against a shield. It won’t
two-handed weapons. If you one attack to perform this tear the shield loose from the
perform a Disarm against a round, he can elect to forget wielder’s arm. However, it will
wielder of a two-handedweapon about his next attack and may draw it out [knock it out of align-
(including magical staves), it use that attack to recover his ment, so that the wielder is not
merely knocks the weapon out weapon instead. protected by it). For the rest of
of alignment briefly; the weap- the round, the shield-wielder
on’s wielder automatically loses Example: lbrreth and Am- loses the AC bonus ofthe shield
initiative on the next round. stard are fighting, lbrreth with (and any magical benefits, too).
However, two Disarms made long swordand shield, Amstard At the start of the next combat
against the wielder in the Same with two-handed sword. Both round, even before initiative is
round will knock the weapon rolled. the character regains his
free: roll only ld6 to see how charactershave two attacksper
many feet it flies, and ld6 to see round. lbrreth hasinitiative. He shieldsAC bonus.
which direction it goes.
successfully Disarms Amstard, If a shield has other .proper-
ties, those stay in effect, even
drawing his weapon out ofline. when the shield is Disarmed out

Amstardnowhashisf m tattack

of the round. He can either

punch lbrreth with his gaunt-
leted fist, in which case his

67

Combat Rules

of alignment. For example, let‘s Thrown-weapon and missile begin as with a Called Shot (an-
say a shield radiates a protec- Disarms may only be performed
tion from evil spell. If it‘s Dis- against single-hand weapons. nounce before initiative, + 1 to
armed, and drawn out of They automatically fail vs. two-
alignment, its wielder still gets hand weapons and shields. initiative, - 4 to hit).
the benefits of that protection If you hit, you’ve gotten your
from evil spell. Only when he Expert Disarms
drops the shield or has it forc- If you’re a very hand on whatever it was you
ibly wrested away from him were trying to grab: It could be
does he lose that benefit. experienced fighter, and are an enemy’s weapon, an impor-
willing to suffer a serious pen- tant item you’re trying to re-
As with the Disarming of two- alty in order to impressyour en- trieve, or any such thing.
emy, you can perform an
handed weapons, if a character However,just because you’ve
finds his shield disarmed. and “expert disarm’’against single- grabbed hold of the object
he still has at least one attack to hand weapons only. Thissuffers doesn’tmean that you’re in con-
perform this round, he can elect the penalty of twoCalled Shots: trol of it. If some other person al-
to forget about his next attack ready hashold of the object,he’s
and may use that attack to re- Announce intent before initia- going to struggle with you for
cover his weapon instead. tive. then suffer a +2 to initia- control.
tive and a -8 to hit.
Example: At the start of the In the same round that you
next round, Amstard’s ally Je- But if it does hit, when you performed the grab, roll ld20.
ter, carryinga halberd,joins the Disarm the weapon, you can Your opponentwill do the same.
fight. ’lbrreth wins initiative send it pretty much where you
again. He takes an ordinary want it to, within 12feet of the Compare the number you
strike at Amstard and misses. rolled to your Strength ability
Jeter chooses to Disarm ’lbr- target. If, for instance, one of score. Whichever one of you
reth’s shield +4. He success- rolled better against his score
fully Disarms it. Now. Amstard your allies has lost his sword, won the tug-of-warcontest.
takes his shot, his chances and your enemy is wielding a
greatly improved because ’lbr- comparable sword, you might For purposes of the Grab, all
reth’s shield bonus to AC wish to Expertly Disarm your 18scores(01-50,51-75,etc.) are
doesn’t come into play. He enemy’s sword to land right in just 18.However,in case of a tie,
smites ’lbrreth with a mighty front of your friend. Or, if you’re a higher-percentile 18 beats a
blow. ’lbrreth has another at- fighting with a dagger and your lower-percentile 18. (For in-
tack this round: Realizing that enemy has a sword you want. stance,an 18/40 beatsan 18/30,an
he’s going to get hurt if he you might Expertly Disarm his 18/00 beats an ‘%s, etc.)
doesn’t have his shield up. he blade to fly up into the air: you
forgets about a second attack drop your knife and the sword Example: Rathnar the Bar-
and uses that time to bring his drops right into your hand. barian tries to grab the Ruby
shield back up. Orb of Blassendom from the
This is an almost preposter- hands ofhis enemy. He success-
Thrown-Weapon and ously heroic sort of thing to do fullyrolls to hit andgets his free
Missile Disarms (it only happens in the most hand on the Orb.
swashbucklingfiction and mov-
You can per- ies, after all) 50 the DM may not -Rathnar is Strength 17. His
form the Disarmmaneuverwith wish to allow this option in a
thrown weapons and missile more gritty or realistic cam- enemy is Strenpth 15.Both roll
weapons. paign. On the other hand, he 1d20:
may grant bonus XP to charac-
When throwing small (SI ters with the temerity to try it Rathnar rolls a 10.He’s made
weapons, you suffer an addi- hisroll bv 7. His enemvroUsa 9.
tional -2 attack penalty he- .. .and succeed!
cause these weapons don’t have He’smahehisroll by 6. Rathnar
a lot of weight: it’s harder for Grab
them to knock the weapon out The Grab is snatches the Orb away.
of someone’s hands. Medium If you grab something and
(M) or larger weapons don’t suf- another type of Called Shot. ?b
fer this penalty, nor do arrows, perform it, you must have at then fail your Strength ability
quarrels,or sling stones. least one hand free: two hands roll, then you’ve lost: Your en-
are better if you’re grabbing and emy has snatched the object
trying to hold a person. hack out of your hand.

When performing the Grab, A tie (for instance, if both of
you made your roll by 5, or both
missed it by 2, or came up with
any other identical answer)
means that you re-roll, during
the same round. ’Reat this sec-
ond roll as if it were a second at-
tack in the same round for

determining when in the round Determinethe resultsof your at- (Yes, therewill be many exam-
it takes place (in other words, it tack as a Wrestling attack. ples which don’t adhere well to
will take place after all other that rule of thumb. But it’s
charactershave performedtheir If your opponent has any at- someplace to start.)
first maneuversfor the round). tacks left this combat round, he Examplc: The Nightmarehas
can respond with a Wrestling, attacksof2-8/4-10/4-10.Its larg-
However, all these Strcngth Punching, or other attack (such est possible attack is 10 (our
rolls resulting from a single as stabbing you with a short startingnumber): it has two ex-
Grab maneuver are counted as weapon, for instance). If your tra attacks per round (for a +2
one “attack:” if a character can Wrestling attack roll resulted in to that starting number): it’s a
a hold of some sort (any result horse-likeanimal (for a +8). Fi-
make two attacks in a round, on the “Punching and Wrestling nal Strength score: 20.
ResultS”chartwitha“*” beside Size Difference.Also, the rel-
and his flrst attack is a Grab, it), he has a -4 penalty to hit ative size of the two combatants
and the grab leads to two or with any attack but another is important. Humans are
Wrestling attack. However, he medium-sized (M)“monsters.”
three Strength rolls due to can use hisattackto try to break They have an advantage when
struggling, that’s all still only your hold (using the Strength grabbing small monsters (such
one attack. The character still roll tactic described above, un- as goblins, imps, and children,
der the descriptionfor Grab). for instance)and a disadvantage
gets his second attack later in when grabbinglarge ones (drag-
the round. Grabbing a Monster ons, golems and hippopotami,
The same for example).
Grabbing A Person Beat a character’s Strength
If you’re Grab- rules apply to grabbing mon- as 3 higherwhen he isgrabbing
sters . . .but there are a couple and struggling with a smaller
bing someone to hold him of other things to consider. monster, and 6 lower when
againsthiswill, you needto con- grabbing and struggling with a
sultthe Wrestlingrulesfrom the No Strength Ability Score. larger one. (This bonus or pen-
Player’s Handbook, pages 97- Most monstersaren’tlistedwith alty is halved with player-
98. Also, see below under a Strength ability score. This Character races and
“Punching, Wrestling,and Mar- makescomparisonsa little Mi- demihuman NPCs. Thus, half-
tial Arts.” cult. In general, if the situation lings, goblins, kobolds and
ever comes up, the DM should gnomes are at a -3 when wrcs-
If you’re Grabbing someone decide for himself what tling with Medium-sized oppo-
and you use oniy one hand, you Strengtha specificmonsterhas. nents such as humans:
have two strikes against you. Dwarves, because they are so
Here’s one rough rule of close to human-sized, are not.
First,the attack is treated as a Humansare ata mere + 1bonus
thumb to approximate a to Strengthwhen wrestlingwith
CalledShot, with the usual pcn- Strength score: Determine how halflings, goblins, kobolds and
alties: second, you’re treated as much damage the monster can gnomes.)
if your Strength ability score do with its single largest attack. Grabbing is performed with
were 3 less. If you have a That‘syour startingnumber. (In hands onlv. The character may
Strength of 15 and grab some- be wearing gloves or even thk
one one-handed, you makeyour other words, if it does 1-8dam- Cestus described in the Equip-
Strength roll as if you had a ment chapter of this book, but
age with its worst attack. you may not be holding any other
Strength of 12. start with the number 8.) ~ . ~ ~ s ninnhnis Grabbing hand.

(Strengths of 18 aren’t auto- Ifthe monsterhas multipleat- .--lack
matically dropped to a 1 5 it de- tacks,add 1to the startingnum-
pends on the 18 Strength’s ber per extraattackthe monster This is a sortof
percentilebonus. An lB/mdrops has. non-attack maneuver.
toan 18kl.An~%1-~8lsmdropsto
an 18/01. An W76-%w drops to a Add 8 to the number if the The Hold Attack maneuver is
plain 18.An 18/5i-18hds r o p to a monsteris an animalknown for a way for a character to delay
17. An 18/01 drops to a 16. And its ability to carry weight making his attack until later in
the plain 18drops to a €5.) (horses, pegasi, camels) or con-
tainspartsof such a monster(as
If you use both hands, you the hippogriffdoes).
don’t have to use the Called
Shot rules: you can make a The DM may further adjust
Wrestling attack without an- this number as he desires.
nouncing it far in advance, and
don’t suffer the + 1initiative or The result is a rough measure
-4 to hit penalty. Also,you get of the monster’sStrength.
to use your f i l l Strength score.

69

the combat round. It‘s usually it’s time for the monsters to re- .”shieldat a +2 to your chance
performed when the character spond: the jungle warrior at-
is hoping that battle circum- tacks Drusilla with his own hit (plus any magical bonus the
stances will change so that he spear, and the jaguar-monster shield confers). If you hit, his at-
can get a shot in somewhere jumps on Rathnarand uses one tack is parried and does you no
that is currently too well- damage.
defended. Archers use this ma- of its two paw hits.
neuver a lot, so that they can It’s time for secondary ma- YOU can Parry thrown weap-
snipe more effectively.
neuvers. Drusilla misses her ons, but not missile attacks
lb perform the Hold Maneu- second strike. Rathnar has no (quarrels, arrows, sling stones,
ver, the character. when it’s secondstrike. It’s time for Lack- magic missiles,etc.).
sley to act. He asks the DM if
time for him to announcehis in- Choice of Parries
Drusilla has moved out ofposi- You don’t nec-
tention, says “I’m holding my
maneuver:’ Combat proceedsto tion yet, and the DM rules that essarily have to Parry the very
the next character. she has. He fres, scoring a hit
on thejaguarmonster.Thejun- . .f=st attack made against you
Then,once everyonehas gone gle warrior stabs Drusilla again
in the round, as secondary at- With his second strike, and the . though that is the simplest
tacks are being determined, the jaguar latches hold of Rathnar
with his secondpaw strike. way to do things. If you prefer,
DM again asks the character you can choose which attacker
what he’s going to do: he can It’s time for tertiary maneu- you’re going to Parry.
vers. Lacksley, because of his
take his action then. If he does Hold Attack maneuver, now Example: Amstard is fighting
not. he forfeitsthat attack. takes what would have been his an ogre and its idiotic goblin
secondarymaneuver.He shoots jester. Before initiative is rolled,
Characters With the jaguar again, killing it: it heannouncesthathe’llbeusing
Multiple Attacks rolls offRathnarbeforeit can in-
flict its thud attack, a deadly one ofhis two attacks to Pany.
If a character bite or an even more deadly The NPCs win initiative and
already has multiple attacks in rake.
a round, he can still perform the attack. The jester attacks first.
Hold Attack maneuver with any parry Amstard announces that he’s
m e a look at not Panying this attack. The
or all of his attacks. This can jesterhits him, doingminuscule
the Dungeon Master’s Guide, damage. Then the ogre attacks.
make things a little compli- page 61, at the “Parrying” op- Amstard announces that he is
tional rule. Parrying this attack. The ogre
cated, hut it’s not a lot of trou- rolls to hit, and succeeds; Am-
That‘s one way to simulate a stard rolls to hit, and succeeds
ble. fighter going on the defensive: in Parrying the attack.
Example: In this fight, the optional Parry maneuver
presented here is done a differ- Then, it’s the player-
Raanar theBarbarian (who has ent way. characters’ turn. Amstard still
one attack per round), Drusilla hasan attackleft, andsoswings
the Spear-Maden (who has two To perform this Parry, you at the ogre.
per round), and Lacksley the
Archer (who has threeper two, must announce beforeinitiative E a character Holds his Parry,
and has two this round) are is rolled that you’re going to anticipatingthat some other at-
fightingajungle warrior(tw0 at- tacker will swing at him, but
tacks per round) and his mon- Parry. (If you have more than that attack never materializes
strousjaguarally (threeattacks one attack per round, you must (for example, because that spe-
per round). cifc opponentwent somewhere
announce how many of them else), and he’s still suffering at-
Thisround,Lacksley wants to are going to be Parries.) tacks thisround,he canuse that
shoot the jaguar: but he’s stiU Parry against one of these other
caught in a spring-loaded ani- Then, during the round, the attacks. He may not, however,
mal trap, and Drusilla is be- h t time an attacker strikes at apply it against an attack that
tween him and thejaguar. you (even if it‘s before your turn has already taken place.
to strike), you roll your Parry.
Theplayer-chamcterswin ini- Roll to hityour attacker, and roll Poiearin Parries
tiative. Drusilla uses herfmt at- vs. hisAC (includingallbonuses If you’re wield-
tack to spear thejungle warrior. for shield, magical items, etc.).
Ra6hnar uses his sole attack to You can use your weapon at its ing a polearm,you can parry an
swinghis axeat thejaguarmon- normal chance to hit, or y attack from another character
ster. Lacksley announces that
he’s holdinghismaneuvc. Now

wieldnrlg a polearill,cvcn if that rolled, that he is performing the Pull/Trip
character is attacking someone Parrying maneuver for the AC This maneu-
else. ?b do this, you must be bonus.
within range either of that at- ver is designed to knock oppo-
tacker or his intended victim. Pin nents down.
With the Pin
Example:Amstard is wielding When using the PulllWip ma-
a halberd from behind the maneuver, you move close to neuver, the attacker announces
shield-wall his friends are hold- your enemy (right up in his face) his intention when it’s his turn
ing. Amstard announces, before and use either a weapon or your to attack. He describes how he’s
initiaitive, that he’ll use onel of shiePd to pin, or trap, his performing the maneuver to the
his attacks for a Parry and the weapon-usually by pressing it DM, who may rule that it’s im-
other for an attack. After ini@a- against him so that he can’t possible.
tive, an NPC with a gla‘ve t move.
If it is possible, though, the at-
Ta swing at Drusilla. Though e This is like a Called Shot, ex- tackerrollsvs. the target’sAC as
cept that you don’t have to an- with any normal attack.
glaive-wielder is out of Am- nounce it before initiative and
you don’t suffer a +1 to initia- The target then rolls ld20
tstard’s range,Drusilla is righ in against his Dexterity. If he suc-
tive. You do still sufferthe -4 at- ceeds, he stays on his feet. If he
front of Amstard. easily wi&in fails, he falls down. Modifiers to
his range. Amstard rolls kis tack penalty. his Dexterity include:
If you successfully hit, the vic-
Pwiaerldqerr’osllAinCg,aagnadinhstittsh;ehgeladdaver-- +6 lhrget Was Not Moving
tim can’tuse hispinnedweapon -3 m g e t Was Unaware of
ries the attack. When it’s t i b e until the pin is broken, and you
for the PCs to attack, DrusIlla can’t use your pinning weapon Attack
puts the glaive-wielder down or shield until the pin is broken.
and Amstard swings his halberd The Pull/?kip maneuver is
against another enemy When the pin is first per- best performed on someone
formed, the victim gets one who is moving and unaware of
Missile Weapon Parries chance to struggle, using a you. A target who is standing
Strength roll exactly as de- still (not walking or running)
In desperate scribed for the Grab maneuver, and is aware of his attacker is
situations, a character can above. If he succeeds, he yanks very hard to knock down.
parry with a missile weapon he theweaponfree: if he hasattacks
is holding (bow, crossbow, or left this round, he can use all of Use of Polearms
staff sling, but not sling). If he is them. If he fails, the weapon re- Polearms (and
successful with his parry, mains pinned for the rest of the
though, his weapon is ruined: round:the victim losesone of his any other weapons with long
the enemy’s attack has de- attacks for the round (if he only staff-like elements-quarter-
stroyed it. He may continue par- had one, he’s out of luck until staves, lances, spears, etc.) are
rying with it until it is next round): but next round and good weapons to have when
completely destroyed (rules for in succeeding rounds, his first you’re trying the PulVlYip ma-
destroying weapons and armor struggle attempt each round neuver.
appear in the Equipment chap- does not count against his avail-
ter of this book), but it may able attacks. (Subsequent ones You can Pull/?t.ipsomeone at
never again be used for its origi- in the same round do count as the maximum range of your
nal purpose. attacks.) weapon, for instance, with no
additional penalty to hit.
from the DMG It is possible to Pin someone
with the missile weapon you are You can Pull/Wipmoving ani-
Even if you carrying (except for the ordi- mals with a polearm: this is at a
Parry maneuver, you nary Sling). While it’s being
se the Parrying option used to Pin, it may not be used -6 penalty to hit if the animal is
from the Dungeon Master’s as a missile weapon. If it was Large (but you can’t even try it
Guide, page 61. armed (an arrow was nocked, a on a Large animal without a
Incidentally, since the DMGs quarrel was in place, or a stone
Parrying counts against all at- was in the staff-sling’spouch), it pole of Some sort).
tacks coming in on the fighter loses that missile in the strug- And, finally, they are very use-
that round, the fighter needs to gle; the charactermust reload it
announce, before initiative is later. ful for knocking riders off their
mounts. With a mancatcher or
polearm (though not with a
quarterstaff, lance or spear),
you can attack a mounted rider

71

and have a good chance of pull- mel of the weapon, etc. There- regaintheAC bonusthen; if you
ing him from his horse. The fore. those bonuses don’t count don’t have an attack until next
Dexteriiy modifiers listed above for anything.
also apply to the rider’s chance ShieId-Rush
to stay mounted. When performed on a charac-
ter who is asleep or magically ver is like a This maneu-
5aQ held. the Sap maneuver auto- combin
matically hits. The chance for Pull/’Rip aqd Shiel
Sapping some- knockout goes up to 10% per neuvers.
one-i.e., hitting him over the point of damage done, up to The a t r e x must start at
head in order to knock him 80%. However. if the subse- least 10f away from the vic-
out-is a maneuver you under- quent percentile die-roll is 81 or tim, and must have either a me-
take when you wish to capture higher, the victim is not dium or M y shield. Basically,
an enemyalive (orjustincapaci- knocked out-he’s been awak- he runs at &fullspeed up to his
tate him without killing him). ened by the attack. (Why try a victim, slainming full-tilt into
Sap maneuver on an already- him, hopiqg to injure him or
To do this, the attacking char- asleep target? Because you may knock him flown.
want to kidnap him or smug- As with @e Shield-Punch, the
acter makes a Called Shot at an gling him out of a cell and can’t attacker gets no bonus to hit
additional -4 to hit (soit‘$ -8 risk him waking up and alerting from the sqeld, nor does he get
total, plus the usual Called Shot the guards.) the AC bonps of his shield from
penaltiesof having to announce the time he,startsthe maneuver
your maneuver before initiqtive The Sap maneuver can only until his ne@ attack.
and suffering a + 1to initiative). be performed with melee weap- If he hit$, he does damage
ons or bare hands; it cannot be equal to the Shield-Punch, and
If the attack hits, the charac- performed with missile weap- the target pust make a ld20
ter rollsordinary damage for the ons. roll against,Dexterityto stay on
hisfeet. ThB target appliesthese
weapon. He gets a 5% chance of The Sap maneuver is usable modifiers to his Dexterity:
knockout (as per the Punching only on Small ( S )or Medium (M)
and Wrestling rules) for every monsters: it will not work on +3 ’Euget Was Moving Toward
point of damage he does, up to a Large (L) or bigger monsters
such asdragons.Theyjust can’t Attackqr
maximum of 40%. be knocked out with this ma-
neuver. +3 W g e t vas Not Moving
Example: Sir Amstard wants
to knock out a noble oppoflent Shield-Punch -3 ’Euget Hit From Behind
The shield-
rather than kill him. He attacks -3 ’Euget Was Unaware of At-
to Sap the opponent. Lucvrily, punch isa very basic maneuver.
even with the -8 to hit, he suc- If you are using a buckler, small tack
cessfully hits his foe. With his shield, or medium shield. you
sword, he rolls 6points of dam- can use it to attack with as well As you can see, it‘s more reli-
age. This gives him a (6*5%) as defend, by slamming it into able a knoc%downthan the PuW
30% chance of an instant your target‘s body. ?tip.
knockout. On his percemtile
When your turn to attack However, the attacker also
dice, he rolls 42: he has failed comes, simply announce that has a chance to be knocked
this time. He’ll try again. you’re shield-punching and down.

The damage done by Sap at- make your attack roll. You get If he misdes his roll to hit, he
tacks is the same as that done slams into the target anyway,
hy Punching; in other wqrds, no attack bonusfrom the shield, and does nq damage to his tar-
only 25% is normal, or “pemna- regardless of its size or magical get. He muqt make hisDexterity
nent,” damage. The other 75% enchantment. ability check at a -6 penalty; if
is temporary,and wears offafter he makes it, he is still standing,
a short while, as we’ll dismss A shield-punchdoes 1-3dam-
later in this chapter. age, plus your Strength bonus.
Once you have performed a
When using a specialor qagi- shield-punch, you lose the AC
cal weapon to perform the Sap, bonusof the shieldfor the rest of
you do not count the weawn’s the combat round from now un-
attack or damage bonus. Yom’re til your next attack. (If you have
not using the weapon the way it an attack later in the round,you
is meant to be used; you’re hit-
ting your target with the flat of
the blade, with the hilt or pom-

Combat Rules

, but if he fails it, he is knocked ing at a part of the target’s body ends up flat on his back, bang-
down. Either way, his target re- that is unprotected by a shield. ing against the orc’s legs with
I mains standing. the orc looming over him, and
A crossbowman could use a the DM assigns the o n a bonus
I Even if he succeeds in his at- Called Shot against the rope

I

tack roll, he still has a chance to holding the chandelier, causing to hit Rathnar because o f the he-
fall down. The attacker rolls the chandelier to come crashing ro’s clumsy position.
ld20 against his own, unad- down onto the villain’s head; in-
justed Dexterity. If he fails it, he stead o f suffering a massive at-
falls down, too. tack penalty for such a Don’t Say No;
preposterous shot, theDMmight Determine Difficulty

Strike/Thrust give the player an attack bonus A good rule of
for the surprise value of the at- thumb to use, when a player-
This is the ba- tack, plus a percentage change character tries something
sic combat maneuver, and is in- for knockout, asper the “Attack- strange or daring in combat, is
cluded here just for com- ing Without Killing” rules play- this: Don’t say no to his pro-
er’s Handbook,Page 97). posal; just determine the diffi-
pleteness. culty of the maneuver in your
A swashbuckler running up a head, give him a general idea of
With the Strike/Thrust ma- flight of stairs with guardsmen that difficulty, and let him try it.
neuver, the attacker uses the in hot pursuit could tumble a
weapon he has in hand and stack o f casks down the stairs An easy way to do that is arbi-
strikes, swings, or thrusts it at behind him; the DM could give trarily to assign a “difficulty
the intended victim. If it hits, him a Pull/?f-ip maneuver number” of 1 to 10 to any spe-
the attack does the damage ap- against each one o f those cial maneuver. Then, have the
propriate to the weapon and the guardsmen, and even an im- character roll against which-
attacker’s Strength bonus. proved chance to hit, for at- ever of his abilities (Strength,
tempting this classic move.
‘‘Striking”with a MissileWeap- .Dexterity, etc.) that seems most
on or Thrown Weapon con- On the other hand, a player
stitutes firing itlthrowing it at might come up with a plan or closely to pertain to the task. .
your target. Usually,you just say maneuver that is merely foolish
“Shoot” instead of “Strike” when or abusive to the campaign.The and subtract that difficulty
announcing your maneuver. number from his ability. If he
succeeds in rolling equal to or
less than his modified ability, he
Surprise and Flash Maneuvers DM can assign such a maneuver has succeeded in his task.
minuses to hit and damage.
Examples: Example: Drusilla wants to
All of these Rathnar’s player decides that try the same maneuver Rathnar
maneuvers, and the many pos- i fRathnar makes faces at an orc was going to pull. She, too, has
sibilities they provide for char- he is fighting, then the orc will no acrobatk training, but is in
acters to customize their become spooked and run away; light leather armor. The DM
fighting styles, should give you When Rathnar attempts this, thinks that this will be pretty
the idea that the DM should be the orc proceeds to make faces difficult for her (though not as
encouraging wild, extravagant, right back at him, then begins difficult as it was for Rathnar),
interesting maneuvers and the process o f cutting Rathnar and assigns the maneuver a dif-
styles in combat. This is a lot to ribbons. ficulty factor of 5 i f she leaves
more entertaining than ordi- Later, after some time at the her spear behind. It’ll be an 8, i f
nary, plodding swing vs. swing healer’sguild, Rathnar is in bet- she tries to take her spear along
combat. ter armor and is in dire combat on the maneuvex He tells Dru-
with another orc. Rathnar de- silla’s player that i t is difficult
Therefore, the DM should re- cides that he’ll tuck and roll be- but possible, though i t will be
ward intelligent, creative efforts tween the orc’s legs, stand up nearlyimpossible ifshe usesher
in combat by granting them bo- behind him, and cleave him in spear. Reluctantly, she drops
nuses to hit and damage. twain from behind. However, the spear and pulls out a short
his player has failed to consider sword before attempting the
Examples: that Rathnar is in bulky plate maneuver.
A lightly-annored hero with mail and knows nothing about
the Acrobatics nonweapon pro- acrobatics. The DM assigns Her Dexterity score is 13;with
ficiency could charge a foe, then Rathnar a stiff penalty to his the - 5 penalty, it’s modified to
use his Acrobatics to flip over Dexterity roll when Rathnar an 8. On her combat action, she
h i m and strike him from the tries the maneuver. Rathnar attempts the maneuver, and
rear: the DM might give him a rolls 1d20 against her modified
bonus to hit in addition to strik-

Lkx. She rolls an 8. and achieves scooping up the sand. He tells maneuvers until you already
it exactly: Drusiua rolls between Amstard to roll against his Dex- have a firm grasp on the combat
the orc’s legs, stands up behind terity, unmodSed, when pick- system, and can run basic com-
him,and drives the short sword bats with little or no difficulty.
home before he knows what hit ing up the sand .. . and the
him. The DM gives her an arbi- Second. they’ll allow the
tmy +4 to hit for the surprise number he makes his roll by player-characters to be more
value of the maneuver. will be the brute’s difficulty colorful and efficient in combat.
number in seeingit coming. But the flip-sideof this benefit is
Someone with Acrobatics that the NRCs and monsters can
nonweapon proficiency might Amstard’s Dexterityis 13. He be equally colorfuland efficient.
be able to pedonn that same rolls a 10on 1d20, makingit by It will be a rude awakening for
tuck-and-rollwith nopenalty, or 3. The brute’slntelligenceis 10: the player-characters when
with a penalty dictated only by with the dficulty of 3.his modi-
the type of armor he is wewing. fied Intelligence is 7. Secretly, they run ilcross a band of evil
See the “Armor Modifiers for the DM rolls 1d20for the brute, fighters as diverse and accom-
Wrestling” chart on page 97 of achieving an 8: the brute plished as they are.
the Player’s Handbook; those doesn’t see the maneuver com-
moditlem would work equally ing. But Amstard’splayer can’t Punching, Wrestling,
well in this situation. be told that until Amstard is and Martial Arts
committed to his maneuver.
Another thing to do when a Punching and
maneuver will probably work Amstard now throws the wrestling are described in the
automatically if the intended sand; this counts as an attack. Player’s Handbook, pages 97-
target doesn’t see it coming. is The DM gives him an ordinary
to assign a difficulty number to attack roll to succeed. Amstard 98. We’ll elaborate a little on
the target‘s chance of seeing it. successfully hits vs. the brute’s
This difficulty could be a pen- AC, andnow the bruteis tempo- those rules here, and introduce
alty or a bonus, depending on rules for basic Oriental-style
how obvious the maneuver is, rarily blinded. . . martial arts maneuvers.
and so could be from 1 to 10in
either direction. The DM would That’s how the thought proc- Specializing With Punching
have the intended target roll ess works, anyway. The players and Wrestling
ld20 against his modified Intel- should have the opportunity to
ligence, and if he rolled equal to tryjust about any maneuver or Though every-
or less than that number, he’d one has a certain knowledge of
see the maneuver coming and approachthey can imagine,and punching and wrestling, so that
be able to avoid it. If he failed, everyone can be considered to
the DM could give the attacker the DM should figure out how have a “weapon proficiency”
ordinary chances of success, or likely each try is of success. you can now Specialize in either
even make the attack an auto- Nothingshouldbe impossible to of the two techniques.
matic success. tryjust because it isn’t specifi-
cally covered in the rules. lb Specialize, you must devote
Example: Amstard is in a a weapon proK6iency slot to the
street brawl witha bigbruteofa Maneuvers In the Campaign technique. Any character of any
warrior: they’ve been punching All of the class can Specialize in Punching
the daylightsout ofoneanother.
and Amstard has just been above maneuvers and ap- .or Wrestling (orMartial Arts, de-
knocked down. His player an-
nounces that he’s trying a clas- proaches can be used in any scribed later) . . but except for
sic trick: He’ll inconspicuously AD&D@ game campaign. There
pick up a handful of sand and, the Fighthg-M~nk(described in
as he’s rising to return to the are a couple of things you
fight,he’lldash thesandintohis should realize about them. The CompletePriest’sHandbmk.
opponent’sface, blindinghim.
First, they’ll add a lot of rich- no character other than a single-
That’s a reasonable trick to ness of detail to your combat. class Warrim can ever specialize
try. The DM decides that the Using them, you can do just
brute’schance tofigureoutAm- abouteverything in combatthat in more than one of these tech-
stard’smaneuveris directlypro- you can imagine your character
portional toAmstard’sfmessein doing. However, the flip-side of niques. A single-class Warrior
that benefitis thatit addsa level can end up specializing in both,
of complexity to your combat: but may begin play specializing
the players and DM have to do in only one lof them.
more thinking about individual
maneuvers and combat situa- Specialization does not count
tions. Therefore, we don’t rec- as a Weapon Specialization. A
ommend you use these first-level ftghter could special-
ize in both Long Sword and

74

Combat Rules

he wished to. A ready know, when the character It is possible for a Warrior to
successfully hits, the roll itself continue to improve his Punch-
cannot take any determines which maneuver ing abilities: See “Continuing
was made: you use the chart on Specializatinn” below.
aWeapion Specialization, can still page 97 of the Player’s Hand-
book,and the attack roll also de Uormal Wrestling Attacks
take One unarmed fighting stvle termines the maneuver used. Review the
specialization.
But on a successful hit, the Wrestling rules from the Play-
Fighting style specializations punching specialist can modify er’s Handbook, page 98. Each
(i.e., Single-Weapon, Two- that result. If he has a chart bo- successful wrestling move does
Hander, etc.) do not grant any 1 point of damage (plus
bonuises to Punching, Wres- nus of + 1, he can choose the Strength bonus, if the attacker
tling, or Martial Arts combat. desires); a continued hold
They’re of use only to combat maneuver one higher or one causes cumulatively 1 more
with melee weapons.~ lower on the chart. point of damage each round
than the round before.
Normal Punching Attacks Example: Sir Amstard
Review the punches a troll.(He’s recklessly In Wrestling combat, when
brave, after all.) He rolls a 12 to two characters are wrestling,
Punch rules from the Player’s hit, and this turns out to be a each rollsto hit theother-using
Handbook, page 98. Remember successful hit. On the “Punch- normal attack rolls against the
that a normal punch does 1-2 i n g and Wrestling Results’’ opponent’sAC, and utilizingthe
damage (plus Strength bonus), chart, we see that this is a Kid- “Armor Modifiers For Wres-
and a punch with a metal gaunt- ney Punch, doing 1 point of tling” table on page 97 of the
let does 1-3 (plus Strength bo- damage, with a 5 % chance for Player’sHandbook for modifiers
nus), and that 75% of all knockout. But Amstard is a to hit.
punching damage is temporary Punching Specialist with a
and wears off within minutesaf- chart bonus o f + l . He can In a single combat round, a
ter the combat is included. choose instead for the result to character can perform Wres-
be an 11-Hook (doing 2 points o f tling on the other character,
A character can pull his damage and with a 9% chance with the normal resultsfrom the
punch, so that he does no dam- for knockout),*or a 13-Hook (do- Punchingand WrestlingResults
age, or only his punch damage ing 2 points o f damage and with table from that same page. On
kithiout his Strength bonus). a 10% chance for a knockout). Wrestle results from that table
He changes the maneuver from which are marked with an aster-
Punching Specialization a Kidney Punch to a 13-Hook. isk (*), the attacker, if success-
If a character ful, can maintain that hold until
Only if a character specializes it’s broken;use the Strength-roll
spends one Weapon Proficiency in punching and thus has a rules described above for the
on Punching, thus taking spe- chart bonus can he affect his “Grab” maneuver to determine
cialization with Punching, he punch results in this manner. when holds are broken.
gains the following benefits:
A character using a Cestus A charactercan pull wrestling
He gains a + 1 bonus to all his
does get to add the bonuses to damage; he can do no damage,
attack rolls when punching; hit and damage from Punching or the 1 point associated with
He gains a +1 bonus to all Specialization to his Cestus each successful maneuver, or
damage. If he has specialized in the 1point plus Strength bonus
damage when punching; Cestus too, he can decide from allowed to him, whichever he
round to round which of his bo- chooses.
He gains a + 1 chart bonus nuses he will apply this round.
Additionally, you may use the As with punching damage,
with all punching attacks; Cestus attack’sattack roll to de- wrestling damage is also tempo-
He gains one additional termine which Punching ma- rary.
neuver was used with the
punching attack per combat attack you still use the damage Wrestlingl Specialization
round (both hands must be free, for the Cestusinstead of the ma- If a character
holding nothing, for the charac- neuver, but now also have the
ter to gain this benefit); and possibility of a knockout. This spends one Weapon Proficiency
can make combats with cesti a Slot on Wrestling, and thus spe-
If the character wishes, when little more complicated, so the cializeswith Wrestling,he gains
he pulls his punch, he can also DM may disallow this rule if he
chooses.
refus to do the +2 damage that

specialization gives h i p
The chart bonusis a reflection

of the character’ssuperior accu-
racy with punching. As you al-

l

the Uowing benefits: tion of martial-artsmovies. normal Armor Class of the tar-
H Zainsa +lbonustoallhis get. tacking character
These Martial Arts are only has he does suffer the
atta ;rollswith Wrestling; availablein a campaignif the DM “Armor Modifiers For Wres-
He.gains a +1 bonus to dl tling” from ’hble 57 on page 97
decides that the art is available of the P l q w ’ s Handbook.) If he
damage with Wrestling (that is, for characters to learn. He must hits, the damage listed
all his maneuvers will do 2 from euver plus any bo-
points of damage plus. his h tdecideif he wanbcharacters nus from hb Strength score.
If the a-ck roll is successful,
Strength bonus, and continued tobeabletouse thesemaneuvers

holds cause cumulatively 1 in his campaign,which will tend
more point of damage for each to give the campaign a more ori-
round they are held);
ental flavor: then, if he wishes to
He gains a +1 chart bonus use them, he needs to establisha
with all Wrestling attacks: history for these combatabfities.
Customarily.they’ve been devel-
He gainsa +2 toStrength,only opedby some distantcivilleation,
for naintaining a mtlinghold
and recent trade with that cul- Y-PUndh, doing 1 point Of
@.e.,aStrength 15characterrolls turehasbroughtsome pmtition- damage i($lus the attacker’s
against Stre@ 17 when main- ers and teachers of the art to the Strength bonus for damage).
taininga wrestling hold, but only
for that purpose); and player-chrackrs’ society. Results Table
%learn MartialArtsatitsbasic
When he choosesto puU wres- level. the character spends one
Weapon Proficiency slot on Mar- Roll -ialArts -KO %
tling damage, the character Maneuver_
mayalsopullthe +2todamage tial Arts. Once he has spent that 1-7. Head Pu.-_.-
granted by specialization. slot,he canuseMartialArtsin the HighKick :
16 5Vitals-Kick
Soif,for instance, he hasa + 1 same way that other people use 15 I___
Punching and Wrestling,as we’ll 11 ?, ...
chart bonus. and rollsa 16to hit d-be immediately below. 10
Vitak-Punch 2 5
(ElbowSmash). he mn instead MartidArts Results - H&d Bash
At its basic Side Kic 25
choose a B i p or an Arm Lock. 4
He’ll decide based on his cur- level, Martial Arts skill is used 3 Elbow S
rent situation: If it‘s in his best just likePunchingandWrestling. Body-Pu
interest to put his opponent on MartialArts combatoccurswhen Low Kic

the ground, he’ll choose a ’Rip, acharacterattackswithhisbare Lo&Kic’- 11
and ifit‘s better for himtohave a Body-Pu 2 10
maneuver that allows him to hands, feet and even head. No Knee-Sh 2 10
hold onto his opponent from weapons are used. (A character Side Kic 2 15
round to round, he’ll choose an HradBz-
Arm Lock. can hold a weapon in one hand Mit&+PUnch
and nothing in the other, attack- Vital5Kick
It is possible for a Warrior to
continue to improve his Wres- ing with his weapon one round
and with his Martial Arts skill in
tling abilities: See “Continuing
the next.)
Specialization,” below.

Martial Arts As with Punching, damage
from MartialArtsishandled in a
As you saw in slightly different fashion. The
iI!s of the Maneuvers
the Player’s Handbook, every- damage from any bare-handed
body knows how to punch-and Martial Arts attack is broken
into two parts: 25% of the dam-
I wrestle. age from the attack is normal
Martial Arts,however, are an: damage, while the remaining
other matter. Not every charac-
ter in a normal medieval-style 75% is “temporary” damage.
campaign will know bow to uti- The Player’s Handbook. page
lize oriental-styleMartialArts. 98. discusses temporary dam-
The Martial Arts described in age, as does this chapter. in the
s section aren’t any real- section on “Recovery,” below. could have
rld fighting style: they’re a When attacking with Martial
combination of “generic” mar- Arts skill,the charactermalresa
arts manavers in the tradi- normal attack roll against the

76

nerable points mentioned im- ange that into an
mediately above. Head Bash. He'll

Specializing in Martial Arts a Warrior to
The same Spe- e his Martial

cializing rules apply to Martial ,
Arts: Once the character has
Proficiency in Martial Arts (by
spending one Weapon Profi-
ciency slot), he can Specializein
it (by spending another).

When the character becomes
a Martial Arts Specialist, he
gains the following benefits:

He gains a + 1bonus to all his

attack rolls with Martial Arts;
He gains a + 1 bonus to all

damage with Martial Arts:
He gains a + 1 chart bonus

with all Martial Arts attacks;
He gains one additional Mar-

tial Arts attack per combat
round (bothhands must be free,
holding nothing,for the charac-
ter to gain this benefit); and

He may pull his attackjust as
Punching andWrestlingcharac-

Combat Rules

three unarmed combat styles choose any maneuver within ate include: (General) Dancing,
when he is first created. After the range of maneuvers covered Direction Sense, (Warrior)
f i t level, however, he mayspe- by his chart bonus (see the ex- Blind-fighting, Endurance,
cialize in the other two.He can ample below). Running. (kogue, double slots)
take specialization in only one Jumping, Tightrope Walking,
style each time he receives a Example: Cassius the Gladia- and lhmbling.
tor is a Punching Specialist. He
new Weapon Proficiency, so he Specialized in Punching at first In cam-gns with more clas-
level, put another Weapon Profi- sical and oriental elements to
could not possibly be a special- ciency slot into it at third level, the martial artists, Nonweapon
ist in all three until he reaches another at sixth, and still an- Proficiencies such as (General)
other at ninth. Artistic AMlity, (Priest, double
sixth experience level . . . and slots unless Paladin) Ancient
At ninth level, he has a +3 bo- History, Astrology, Healing,Her-
ninth level is more likely. nus to attack rolls with Punch- balism, Local History, Musical
Usually, the character. if he Instrument, Readingmriting,
ing, a +3 to damage rolls with
wants to specializein more than
one style, will take either Mar- Punching.anda +3chart bonus.
tial Arts or Punching, not both,
because their usefulness over- Let’s say he rolls a 16 to hit Religion. Wizard, double slots
laps a great deal: and then he’ll someone. and that the attack unless Ranger) Ancient History,
take Wrestling, because Wres- does hit. This would normally Astrology, Verbalism, Reading/
tling is useful when the charac- bea GlancingBlow.Buthehasa Writing. Religion.
ter is being grappled. +3 chart bonus. He can choose
Fighting Style Specializations,
for themaneuver,instead ofjust from this chapter, are also very
being a rolled result of 16,to be appropriate for the character.
Continuing Specialization anywhere from 19 to 13.He can Naturally,you won’t be able to
afford all tbese things for your
: This is an op- choose for the maneuver to be a Martial Artist character, even if
tion that is only available to
single-class Warriors (and to Wild Swing, a Rabbit Punch, a your DM does allow you the In-
Fighting-Monksfrom The Com- KidneyPunch, a GlancingBlow telligence bonus for extra Profi-
plete Priest’s Handbook). (as rolled).a Jab, an Uppercut,
If the warrior continues to de- or a Hook. ciencies mentioned earlier in
vote Weapon Proficieocy slotsto this chapter. Think not about
an unarmed combat style after Of these seven maneuvers, having all these abilities, but
he is already specializing ib it, about taking specitlc abilitiesto
he gets the following benefits. Jab andHook do the most dam- make the character unique, dif-
Note: The character may not age, and Hook has a slightly
take morethan basic Specializa- higher chance of knockout suc- ferent from all the other PCs . . .
tion in any of the arts at f i t ex- cess, so he chooses it. With his
perience level: thus, at first punch, he will do a basic 2 even if they, too, are principally
level; he may devote one slot to points for the maneuver, +3 Martial Artists.
Punching, or one slot to Wres- points from the damage bonus
tling, or two slots to Martial hegetsfor specializing,and any For instance, one character
Arts, but not more than that to bonus his Strength gives him. could be a PaladinlSwash-
any of them. At third level, buckler whp takes Weapon Pro-
when he receives another slot, The Complete MartidArtist ficiency with all Fencing Blades
he may devote it then to im- If you wish to (two slots), Specialization with
rove his SpecSization. the Sabre (one slot), and Special-
For each additional slot de- create a characterwho is princi- izationwith Punching (one slot).
bonus to all his pally a Martial Artist, you ought Another cliaracter could be a
th his combat to take other Weapon and Non- RangerIBeqst-Rider who takes
He gains a +1 bonus to all weapon Proficiencieswhich are Weapon Proficiency with all
appropriate to the classic Bows (twoslots)and Proficiency
martial-artshero. and Specialization with Martial
Arts (two slots). This way, no
Almost all Weapon Proficien-
ciesare appropriatefor the char- two Martial Artists are likely to
acter, including all swords, be even remotely alike.

age with his combat style: bows, and polearms, and espe- In Oriental Campaign
cially proficiencies with the
e gains a +1 chart bqnus Samurai weapons from the If YL-. cam-
all attacks in that combat Equipmentchapter of thisbook. paign is based in an orientalset-
With chart bonuses of +2 Nonweapon Proficiencies ting, you need to make an easy
ore, the character can which are especially appropri- change. Instead of normal profi-

Barehanded Maneuvers I beholder’sspecialeye, for exam- Disarm
scribed above ple), Smashing Something Be-
ing Held (though the attacker It’spossible €or
ate time in the combat sequence risks having the contents of fighter to disarm
(that is, if it’s a Called Shot of whatever he’s smashing spilled
some sort, he announcesbefore on him), and Bypassing Armor but it’s
initiative; otherwise, he makes (again, this only works on mon-
the announcement when hie’s sters where the DM has de- T -dangerous. hen so trying, the
called on for the d’escription of signed a specific weakness into
his action for the round). the monster). barehanded ighter’s AC suffers
a penalty of (for example, a 5
When his turn comes up, he A Puncheror MartialArtist can becomes a 7 he’s having to ex-
rolls to hit. If he’s specialized in also perform a Called Shot to at- pose hirnsel to attack briefly),
a barEhanded fighting style, he tack a specific Hit Location. See
stillgptsthe attack bonusfor his the text on “Hit Locations,” be- band his Dis attempt is at an
Specialization. If he hits, he low. This is the sort of attack the
does* ’tdo one of the maneuvers additional -4 to hit. But if it
from his fighting style; he per- characterwants to use if he’s try-
forms the specific maneuver’he ing to hit an enemy in thejaw to thits, it’s jus as successful as
elected. However, if he’s a Spe- knock him out,pound him in the
cialist, he does get the dam$ge any other ~&.rm.
bonus from his fighting stylel. solar plexus to double him over,
and so on;all normal rulesfor Hit Grab
Here are examples of how this Locationsare used.
works with the specific Malee As described
Maneuvers: Called Shots: Wrestling
Called Shots: Punching barehanded.
and Martial Arts A Wrestler can
Martial Artist take a Called Shot in order to Hold Attack
choose the specific Wrestle ma- A barehanded
neuver result he wants. If he
succeeds, he does not randomly fighter can Nold his attack with
roll the wrestle maneuverwhich no penalty.
takes place; he chooses it. This
is of special usefulness when Parry
he’s trying to achieve a hold
A barehanded
result.‘
odds.
Example: A wrestler decides
to take a Called Shot. Beforeini- for a bare-
tiative is rolled, he announces
that he’s taking a Called Shot to ttack comes up.
achieve the result ofArm Lock. performing the
ually consists of
He suffersthe usual + 1 to initia-
character can
tive;when his turn comes up,he under the de-
er suffers an
suffersa -4 to hit. I f he hits, the

maneuver result is Arm Lock,
regardless of the roll.

Also, when a fighter is wres-
tling another character, he
might find it to his advantage to
make a Called Shot to pull the
enemy’s helmet down over his
enemy’seyes, blinding him for a
combat round or two.

But, obviously, such sue-
cesses depend heavily on the
good-will of the DM. If he thinks
such maneuvers are more

bother than color, don’t try to

perform them.

79

Combat Rules -

Pin Shield-Punch write down “Numbed’ and that
A barehanded Since a Shield-
number. (You can also use the
character can’t use the pin ma- Punch requires the use of a
neuver to pin someone else’s shield, a barehanded character Combat Sheet included at the
bare hand. Use the Wrestling obviously cannot perform this end of this book.) If the result
rules for such an attempt. maneuver. was 0, write down 1instead.

A barehanded character can Shield-Rush Then, calculate 50% (one-
try to use Pin to pin someone’s Since a Shield- ha10 of your character’s hit
weapon: use the modifiers de- point total. Round up if the frac-
scribed immediately above for Rush also requires the use of a
parry. tion is .5 or higher. On your
shield, a barehanded character
Pullniip cannot perform this maneuver. character sheet, also near the
A barehanded hit point listing (or on this chap-
SMkfirust ter’sCombat Sheet), write down
charactercantry to PulvMp an- When a bare- “Useless” and that number. If
other character with no addi- the result was 1, write down 2
tional penalty. Barehanded, the handed character tries the instead.
character can only ’Rip charac- Strike/Thrustmaneuver,we call
ters who are adjacent to him, it a “Punch and use the normal Whenever you go up a level
and cannot ’Rip any Large crea- Punching rules. and gain new hit points, recal-
ture or monster. culate thme numbers.
Hit Locations
kP Example: Zaross has 27 hit
We’ve said be- pints.His Numbed number is
A barehanded fore that this whole book con- 6.75 (rounds u p to 7),and his
Sapping attack (basically, a sists of optional systems for Uselessnumber is 13.5(rounds
punch to the jaw) is a classic your campaign: well, this Hit up to 14).
combat maneuver.It can be per- Locationssystemcan be consid-
formed with Punching and Mar- ered very optional. Body Locations
tialArts, but not with Wrestling. Now, when-
As with the regular Sap, the The ALMLP game doesn’t en-
barehanded fighter makes his ever you conduct combat, do so
Called Shot at an additional -4: courage a hit locations system, normally.And every normalblow
for the reasons given in the struck isdeducted from the char-
if he hits, he does normal dam- Dungeon Master’s Guide, page acter’s hit pointsnormally.
72 (“Injury and Death”). Some
age for his attack, and has the of you still want one, however, Every normal blow struck
normal Knockout chance of 5% (that is, every blow not declared
per point of damage done. so in this section we’re present- as aimed at a specific Body Lo-
ing a Hit Locations system that cation) hitsthe character’storso
Between the Sap maneuver (i.e.. any point from his shoul-
and the Called Shot for the Head allows you to determine individ- ders to his hips).
Hit Location, the character has
two attacks that can hit an ene- ual injuries. . .but stays true to However, if you take a Called
my’s bead. They are very differ- Shot, you can make your strike
ent, however, and so they are the game’s philosophy. at any one of six other Body Lo-
not redundant. cations (head, two arms, two
The “Numbed” and legs, and stun-points).
The Sap provides a chance for “Useless” Numbers
knockout;the CalledShotto the The Locations
Head doesn’t. When using These are the

The Called Shot to the Head this system, the f m t thing to do character’s Body Locations:
Torso: As described above.
has several unusual possible re- is to calculate your character’s
“Numbed and “Useless” Num- The lbrso is hit with any non-
sults (Blindness, Knockdown, bers. Called Shot.
etc.): the Sap doesn’t.
Calculate 25% (one-fourth) of Head: Must be hit with a
And the Called Shot to the your character’s hit point total
Head can only be used if the DM (don’t count current injuries: Called Shot at an additional -4
allows Hit Locations in his cam- this is his starting hit point to-
paign. If he doesn’t, the Sap is tal). Roundupifthefractionis .5 to hit.
all you’re left with. or higher. On your character
sheet, near the hit point listing. ’ Arms (2): One right, one left.

Must be hit with a Called Shot.
Legs (2): One right, one left.

Must be hit with a Called Shot.

Stun-Points: This rather stant knockout; if the knockout
broad category includes the lso- fails, the victim takes only the
lar plexus and other nerve ckn- damage done by the attack and
terswhich, when struck,ten# to none of the special body loca-
cause the victim a lot of &in. tions results described here.
Stun-Points must be hit with a
Called Shot at an additional -4 Specific Effects
to hit. of Called Shots

General Effects You may be
of Called Shots asking -yourself, “Figuring out
what auselessarm is all aboutis
Now, when pretty easy: but what do they
you take a Called Shot agaibst mean when your head is u
one of those special locatio/ns, less?”
interesting things can happepn:
Avoiding the normal wise-
If the attack’s damgge cracks that would resu
equalled or exceeded the vic- such a straight line, le
tim’s “Numbed” number io a about the actual effects
single blow, then that locatioi.1is “uselessness” for each of the h
Numbed. It is uselessfor the nest locations.
of this combat round. At the
start of the next round, before Torso: The torso doesn’
initiativeis rolled, the character come useless; the “Num
recovers full use of that body and “Useless” numbersh
Part. bearing on it.

If the attack’s damage Head:When a character
equalled or exceeded the vic- a Numbed or Useless res
tim’s “Useless” number in a sin- his head, one of the following ef-
gle blow, then that location is fects can take place. The DM,
injured, and is Useless for the not the player, chooses which
rest of the fight. Once the fightis one. He can random-rollon ld6,
over (i.e., one side or the other is or just choose the one that he
defeated, surrendered, or de- fancies most.
parted, or the two sides are uow
at peace), the characterrecoviers (1)Blindqess: The characteris
use of the injured body part in blinded (from the pain, not in-
jury to his eyes) until the Numb-
2d6 minutes . . .or immediatlely ness or Uselessnessends. When

upon its being magically heded a character is blind but still try-
up to the “Numbed” numben’ or
better. ing to defend himself, anyone
attacking him gets a bonus of
For these effects to take place, +4 to hit. (If,for somereason, he
remember that the attack mbst is also kneeling,sittingor flat on
have done the required amount his back, the bonuses to hit are
of damage in a single blow mul- cumulative).
tiple blows don’t add together
for this purpose. (2) Deafness:, The character
hears ringing in his ears until
Damage from Punchifig, the Numbness or Uselessness
Wrestling, and Martial Arts $an ends. The character suffers no
also cause body parts to become combat penalty, but cannot
Numbed and Useless. hear orders or warnings
shouted at him.
A Sap attack (described abpve
under “Melee Maneuvers”), re- (3) Dizziness: The character is
gardless of how much dama e it concussed and dizzy. He per-
does, does not achieve $he forms any Dexterity ability rolls
Numbed or Useless results. with a penalty of -4 until the
That maneuver attempts an in- Numbness or Uselessnessends.
Anytime he is hit in combat for

81

Recording These Injuries monster (or character) has 50% one of these attacks, he must
It‘s simple to of its hit points invested in that calculate which portion of it is
body park if it did, a creature normal, “permanent” damage,
record these injuries. might have more than 300% of which must be healed by magic
its own hit points! The or by medicine, and which por-
You don’t record the damage “Numbed and “Useless” num- tion is temporary, which will
bers arejust ways to determine wear off after a while.
separately. All the hit-point how much damageit takes to in-
losses are applied against the capacitate a certain body part, Recording Temporary Damage
character’s normal pool of hit and the hit point damage is al- Usually,it’s too
points. just as before. ways applied to the victim’s nor-
mal hit point score. much trouble to calculate pro-
On the Combat Sheet pro- portionson every attackyou sus-
vided at the end of this chapter, This System and tain. Instead, keep a separate
Low-level Characters track of all damage you receive
or on a scratch-sheet, you’ll in a single combat from Punch-
Low-level ing, Martial Arts, and Sap at-
want to record any special com- characters, with their small tacks. When the combat is over,
bat results and how long they’re store of hit points, are compara- divide them up into Normal and
in effect. For example: “Right tively easy to hurt in this sys- Temporary damage. When you
arm useless until combat over.” tem. A character with 10 hit have a fraction of .5 (or less) on
points has a Numbing number the Normal Damage result,
Individual Injuries of 3 and an Injuring number of round down: all the rest of the
and Healing Magic 5. However, since these special damage is Temporary damage.
damage results are all tempo-
When a char- rary. and add a certain amount Example: Sir Amstard is in a
acter who has taken a Useless of flavor to combats,you should
result is healed before the area have no difficulty using them boxingmatch with the devastat-
recovers naturally, then the with charactersof any level. ing cassius, and is getting the
healing magic is presumed to worst ofit. He takes one shotfor
heal the injured region first. If However, don’t forget that all 5 points of damage, another for
the magic heals one-fourth of these special shots must be 6, andanother for 3, and on this
the character’s hit points, the Called Shots. They don’t come third shot Cassius successfully
Useless body part is working about because of random die- rolls his Knockout percentage.
fine again. rolls. Amstard is knocked out.

Permanent and Recovery Amstard has sustaineda total
Crippling Effects of 14 points of damage. One-
You already fourth,or25%,ofthatisNormal
This system Damage. That’s 3.5, which we
does not support any perma- know how fast characters re- round down to 3. He’s taken 3
nent damage or crippling ef- cover theuse of damagedHit Lo- points of Normal Damage. The
fects, in accordance with the cations when those locations remaining 11points are Tkmpo-

general AD&D@ game philoso- are Useless: It takes only 2d6 rary damage.

phies. minutes. Recovering From
But there are a couple of other Temporary Damage
Monsters and Hit Locations
These rules types of recovery which need A character re-
some elaboration. covers from Tkmporary Damage
can be used for monsters, too, at a rate of 1hit point every five
even those with extra limbs and Recovery Of minutes. If Temporary Damage
body parts (extra heads, wings, Temporary Damage has caused a character to go un-
conscious, he’ll recover con-
tails, etc.). As with humans, it As you know. sciousnesswhen he returns to 1
damage from Punching, Martial hit point or more.
takes a “Numbed” shot (one-
fourth the monster’s hit points Arts,and the Sap maneuver is Example: Amstard, above,
in a single blow) to numb an took 11points of damage before
area for one round, and a “Use- 25% normal and 75% tempo- he was knocked out. He’ll re-
less” shot (one-half the mon- rary. coveronepoint of damage every
ster’shit points in a single blow)
to incapacitate the body part for This means,whenever a char-
an entire fight. acter issustaining damage from

Remember that the “Useless”
number does not mean that the

82

Combat Rules

h e took that Temporary Damage Combat Conditions
and Knockout
Magical Healing and Not all fights
Temporary Damage If a character
sustained enough Temporary Darkness and Blindness
ing three are applied It0 Damage to render him uncon-
porary Damage. Whep scious in the same blow as he 1Condition Mel. Mis. Infr.
of Rmporary Damage. suffered a Knockout, he doesn’t Bonus
Punching and Marti@ wake up until conditions for re- Clear sky
tacks and from the Sap covery of both the Temporary (daytime) -0 -0 +o
ver. Damage and the Knockout are Fog, dense -4 +o
out, he must immedihtely met. orblizzard -3 -2 +o
a System Shock percenti Fog, light -3 +o
awaken in 2d6 minutes. Example: In a rematch, Am- or snow -1 -1 +o
fails the roll, he will awak stard pounds Cassius silly until Fog,
2d6 hours. his last blow knocks him out. moderate -2 -4 +2
That last blow reduced him to Mist or -6 + 3
- 3 hit points, rendering him light rain -0 -6 +3
unconscious, and Amstard also Night, -2 + 1
successfullyrolledfor Knockout full moon -2
on percentile dice. So, when Night,
does Cassius wake up? no moon -3
lbtal
It will take Cassius 20 min- darkness -4
utes to recover 4 points of Em- Twilight
porary Damage, which will put -1
him at 1h p and lethim wake up.
Cassius rolls his System Shock On the ch t above, you’ll see
roll and is successful, meaning all those sa1 :Visibility Ranges
that h e will wake up from in the first c umn.
Knockout after 2d6minutes. He
rolls a 7 ,so he would wake up in
7 minutes.

But both recoveries have to
finish for him to wake up. After
7 minutes, he’s still uncon-
scious, and will stay that way
until 20 minutes are up.

Magical Healing and
Knockout

If a character
who has been Knocked Out re-
ceiveshealing magic.(acure light
wounds spell or any more power-
ful healing spell,excludingirrele-
vant spells such as cure disease
or neutralize poison), and he suc-
cessfully madehis SystemShock
roll, he’ll wake up immediately
(provided, as usual, that he’s
above 0 hit points).

If he receives healing magic
but failed his System Shock
Roll, the magic still helps him:
He may now calculatehis recov-
ery as though he successfully
made his System Shnrk roll.

The second column indicates The chart says that Amstard fighting Aspendale the Elf.
the character’s attack penalty Rathnar doesn’t have Infra-
when he’s attacking someone in and allies take a -1 to hit. . .at vision: Aspendale does. Rath-
melee combatin thatsort of visi- nar, becauseit’sdarkandmoon-
bility. each range step. That‘s - I at less, is takinga -3penalty tohit
short range, another -1 at me- Aspendale in melee. Aspendale,
The third column lists the therefore, has a +3 when strik-
penalties for shooting at some- dium. and a last - 1 at long ingatRathnar. (-3forbadlight-
one in ranged combat in those range. Amstard and fiends take ing, +3 for Rathnar’shandicap,
visibility conditions. This pen- +3 for infravision bonus).
alty is taken once at Short a -3 to hit when &!ng at the
Range, again at Medium Range. Second, in missile combat, in
and once more at Long Range OTCS. similar conditions, the charac-
ter with the better vision gets a
(see ’lhble 45 on page 69 of the Suddenlx the cloud breaks bonus to hit his target. This,
and a heavy rain falls on every- also, is equal to the other fel-
Player’s Handbook). one. The DM rules that it’s the low’s melee, not missile, penalty
The fourth column is the equivalent of light fog or snow. to hit.
The orcs haven’t yet gotten
InfravisionBonus.If a character within 1Myards, so they’re sWI Example: mking a beating,
has Infravision, his bonus is ap- at long range. Amstard and Rathnar runs off into the dark-
plied against his attack penalty friends fue again. Now, they’re ness andgets to his bow. Aspen-
for Melee, and against his attack at - 2 to hit per range step, or dale accommodates him. Firing
penalty for Missile attacks suf- at Medium Range, Rathnarisat
fered at each range step. -6 total to hit their enemies. a -12 to hit! That’s -6 each at
Short and Medium ranges, ac-
How This Works How Infravision Works cording to the chart above.
When a char- (The Simple Way)
Third, the third column of the
ducr is in a situation where he The simplest chart above gives a bonus for
suffers a penalty to hit in melee way to use Infravision in these Infravision. This is applied to
combat, he’s obviously in some circumstances is to ignore that the character’s penalty for me-
dark area. He, and everyoneelse lee combat, and to his penalty
with similar vision, suffers the fourth column on the chart for missilecombatat each range
penalties to hit in melee and step.
missile combat. above and just say that Infra-
vision cancels out all darkness Example: Aspendale returns
Example: Rathnarisin a fight penalties.This is simple, easy to fue. He would be at a -6 per
in pea-soup fog. He can barely remember, and doesn’t cause each range step, too, but he has
see his hand in front of his face. any combat hassles. Infravision. He gets a -6 at
An enemy looms u p in the fog. Short and at Medium Range,
Rathnarstzikesat it. . .but suf- How Infravision Works butthat’soffsetbya +3atShort
(The Complex Way) and a +3 at Medium Range. His
fers a -3 to hit. The fog is so penalty: -6. And because he
If you prefer can see better in the dark than
thick that it’s difficult to strike more realism and complexity, Rathnar anyway, he gets a bo-
exactly the right place. He rolls then Infravision is a help, but nus equal to Rathnar’s melee
an attack that would barely it‘s still not quite as good as be- penalty: +3. Hisfinalpenalty: A
have hit his foe in ordinary cir- ing in broad daylight. mere -3. He shoots back at
cumstances: in these circum- Rathnar, hittinghim clean on.
stances,his blowisacleanmiss. With theseoptionalrules, Infia-
vision can be a big help in times Unstable Ground
The missile penalty gets of darkness. A character with Characters
worse and worse the further Infravision isn’t as disadvan-
away the attacker is from his tagedby poor lighting conditions. sometimes have to flght on un-
target. stable ground. Earthquakeshap
First, in melee combat, in any pen. Giant monstersburrow their
Example: Sir Amstard. at the conditionof darknesswhere one way up from the depths of the
head of an army.is fm.ng at the person has better vision than earth,shaking everything. Char-
oncomingarmioforcs, Ghich is the other, he gets a bonus to hit. acters have naval battles where
half-way across the plain. The This bonus is equal to the other they fight on the decks of ships.
orcs are at 200 yards, barely in fellow’s attack penalty. (The
range of the heroes’ long bows. characterwith infravision is still
The weather,however,is drizzly subject to the normal penalty-
and rainy, considered to be Mist in effect, this bonus cancels the
on the chart above. character’s own penalty.)

Example: It’s dark and moon-
less outside, and Rathnar is

84

L Combat Rules

Jousting Ilengthier aff ’r-whic
Jousting is a
bad thing; a c assicjou
type of combat where two go on for a fe rounds
mounted warriors, armed with Lances and Dismounting
lances ride at one another and
try to spit one anotherwith their I
weapons.
Lance Breakage
It’s the sport of knights and lance that has
kings, and is very appropriateto
campaigns with a medieval set- Lance Specialization
ting. If a character

Initiative takes Weapori. Sp
As a special lance, he gets the
of attack and damage
rule, when two riders are joust- But he also gets the following
ing, don’t bother with initiative benefits:
rolls. On the first round of a
joust, the two jousters ride at He can perform the Shield-
one another and roll to hit: on Rush maneuver with his lance-
the second, both continue their tip. In orde:: for this to
ride, turn around, and start stead of a lance
back toward one another.

All attacksare resolvedsimul-
taneously.Initiative doesnot en-
ter the picture.

If jousting is taking place dur-

ing a larger battle, where other

things are going on and initiative

mustbe rolled,try this: When it’s

time for thejouster who won ini-
tiative to take his action, the
jouster who lost initiative also
gets to make his attack roll,
though this takes place during
the middle of the enemy’s com-
bat sequence. This helps simu-
late the fact that the lance-strikes
take place simultaneously.

Multiple Attacks
When a char-

acter has multiple attacks in a
single round,and isjousting, he
does not get multiple lance at-
tacks. He can only use that
lance once in a combat round
(and loses the next round turn-
ing his horse, if he’s to come
back and face the same enemy).

However, that second attack
in the same round can still be ef-
fective; the best use for it is for
the rider to Parry the incoming
lance attack with his shield.
This ean make a joust a

Combat Rules

I_

mor or a shield. If the character eventrevolvesaroundthem and must be of the nobility,but that
does not have such armor, the their deeds. is necessarily left up to each
attack is automatically a lance
strike. The Basic Tournament DM.
The basic
He gets a +2 bonus to AC The jousting competition is
(thus, an AC 2 would become a tournament, in a medieval-type single elimination. The field of
0). only when jousting and only setting. consists of a joust com- entrants is broken down into
vs. anotherjouster. (Thatis, the petition. This can take place in randomly-chosen pairs (some-
AC bonus is only against incom- an ordinary field, hut is more
ing lance attacks, and only colorful and entertaining when times the choosing is not so
works when the defender is
himself mounted and carrying a it takes place on a specialjoust random, if the organizers want
lance.) to pit especially interesting
list.
Horseback Archery fighters againstone another. . .
Only the Com- The JoustList
This field con- or to rig the tournament re-
posite Short Bow, Short Bow,
Daikyu (from this supplement‘s sists of a long strip of ground sults). Each pair makes a num-
Equipmentchapter), and Cross- with a low fence along the mid- ber of jousting passes until one
bows may be used from horse- dle of it; thejoustersride toward is dismounted (or yields the
back. The Long Bow and one another,eachwith the fence field-i.e., surrenders in order
Composite Long Bow may not to his left, and make jousting to avoid further damage). If
be. passes until one or the other is both combatants are dis-
dismounted. mountedin the same pass, they
Firing a bow from the back of get up, remount, and startover.
a still horse (one which is not Along one orboth long sidesof
the list, standsare set up for on- The winner of the pair ad-
running) is done at a - 1penalty lookers. There may be a box or
special seatjngarea for the local vances to the next round of
to hit. ruler and his retinue. matches: the loser is consoled.
Firingfrom the back of a walk-
At both ends of the list, where When the number of entrants
ing or trotting horse is done at a the horses turn around, are is an odd number, one fighter
-2 penalty to hit. racks of lances for the riders’ doesn’t have an opponent. He
use. At one end of the list is an gets to “fight the bye:’ An oppo-
Firing from the back of a gal- exit to the field where the nent is chosen for the jouster:
loping horseis done at a -4 pen- knights and other participants Someone who lost in an earlier
have their tents set up. match, a warrior not entered in
alty to hit. the competition, etc. Regard-
In same barbarian tribes, es- The JoustingCompetition less of who wins the match, the
The most pop- jouster is advanced to the next
pecially those who inhabit wild- round (and thus has a slight
open plains, every warrior ular event in a tournament, the benefit over someone who
knows Riding for the tribe’s fa- event which the tournamentre- didn’t get to fight the bye); but
vorite riding animal and Spe- volves around, is the jousting he’sjust as tired and injured as
cializes in Composite Short competition. any other fighter.
Bow. This makes them very,
very dangerous opponents in a In thiscompetition,all partici- No fighter may fight the bye
cavalry engagement. pating fighters announce them- more than once in any tourna-
selves to the seneschal, knights’ ment: the organizers re-arrange
Tournaments marshal, or other minor digni- things if the same fighter ends
tary who doesthe actualwork of up without an opponent in an-
Tournaments running the tournament. There other match. By the last
are events where fightersget to- is no fee for admission, but each matches of the competition, the
entrant must have his own tournament numbers will have
gether to compete . . .for prizes. mount, armor, and lances. It’s evened out and no more byes
best if he also has a squire,page will be fought.
to show off their abilities, etc. or friend to wait by his lance-
Fighting isn’t all that goes on, rack to hand him a new lance With each subsequent round,
when one breaks. the number of entrants is
and fightersaren’t the only ones halved, until at the end only two
in attendance. lburnamentsare Insome societies,all entrants are left; the winner of that
huge social events where every- match is the winner of the tour-
one gathers to watch, compete. nament.
gossip. trade,bet, and sport.But
fighters are the center-piece;the

86

Combat Rules

I ll I along the stands and give the Archery Competitions
crown, at lance-point, to the An archery
Bjunted Lances lady of his choice. The Queen of
Tournameqts Love and Beauty sits with the competition 1s usually for long
fighter and local ruler at the bows or lighti crossbows; some
may be fought with bluntkd night’s feast, and the award is a tournaments;haveone competi-
lances. Bluntedlances workjqst sign of status and respect, but tion for each.
as normal lances, but they confers no lasting benefit.
damage like Punching dam In the archery competition,
(i.e., 75% of all damage is te In a campaign where women the targets +re set up at the
porary, and wears off after also fight, naturally, the female weapon’s loyg range; all com-
end of the match). Blunted fighter would be given a crown petitors suffer a -5 to hit with
lances do not have metal or to award to the “King of Grace.” each shot. Targets are AC 10.
pointed heads; they weigh ias
muchasregularlances,but cost Prizes In each tournament round,
only half as much. Prizes are of- each participant fires five ar-
Queen o f Love and Beauty rows or quarrels at his target. A
ten awardedto the winner of the miss counts as 0 points. A nor-
Often, the win- joust. These are not generally ma€hit counts as 3 points. If a
ner of the jousting competition cash prizes, or magical prizes; character rolls 5 over what he
gets to choose the tournament’s they are usually some jewelled needed to hat, it counts as 5
“Queen of Love and Beauty.” or ornamentalsign of favor, and
The local ruler or tournament act as trophies for the victor. dpoints. If a na ural20 is rolled, it
organizer gives him a crown or
coronet, which the fighter mfiy Other Events counts as 1 points (a bull’s-
bestow upon any lady (at the Other events eye!).
tournament) of his choosiqg;
typically, the crown is placed taking place at a tournament(at At the en$ of each rounb,
over the end of the fighter’s the discretion of the organizers points are taflied and half the
lance, so that he might ride and the DM) include: field, the on& with the lowest
scores,are elihinated. This con-
tinued until mere are only two
or three competitors left; when

that happens, the competition Dancing, Socializing First, a surrendering charac-
has reached its final rountl. Finally, the ter who isabout to be butchered
could “tWn out” to have some
In the final round. the,same tournament is a grand social information critical to the char-
rules are in place, but s&aller, event. Musicians play, people acters, arld say something like
harder targets are used; they gossip, dances are conducted
have AC 4. it‘sa grand place to hear new ru- (w“Kill me @nd you’ll never learn
mors, or start them, to meet
Prizes often consist of new contacts, to stumble across about in the blank):’ This
bows, quivers, sheaves !of ar- stubborn NPC won’t reveal the
rows, and jewelry. Archery is mysteries . . . all of which the information, even on pain of
pretty respectable; it do+ not death, unless the PCs promise
command the sort of status or DM should keep in mind. to accept his surrender {and
prizes the joust does, but is
better-regarded than the lowly When to EI - - those of his friends) and

~ in the NPCs alive afterward
the game don’t have to go on un- the PCs promise, and later re-
foot-list. Nobles and pe;lsants nege. you can alwaysvisit other
alike may participate. til everyone on one side is dead revengeqpon them.)

In some cultures, the cross- .. .or even defeated. Second, a local deity, spirit or
monstercould seethe PCs hack-
bow is thought of as a w g a r Don’t forget that one side or ing on surrendering NPCs and
the other (including the PCs’ grow offended. Much tougher
weapon; in such culturesj most side) can surrender, or retreat, than the PCs will ever be, this
tournaments won’t hdve a or even convince the other side being snatches up the most of-
crossbow competition. TYe few to stop fighting and do some fensive of the PCs, tells him
such competitions whicb take talking or negotiating. what he’s doing and why, and
place are not attended by8noble then curses or kills the PC as a
competitors. When every fight must end in lesson to the others.
one sid,eachieving total, bloody
Foot-Lists victory, the game rapidly grows This is a brute-force tech-
A foot-listis or- boring. When there’s opportu- nique, but such players have al-
nity for a greater number of res- ready shown that they
ganized like a joust, excefltthat olutions, there’s more understaadlittle but brute force
its entrantsfight on foot, ahd are uncertainty to combat, and to anyway.
not restricted to the nobility the campaign’s storyline.
(even when thejoust is). When Characters Always
If you have characters who Chase Escapees
Since melee weapons are won’t stop fighting when it
deadlier than blunted ldnces, should he done, you have prob- Some charac-
some tournament orga$izers lems. Here are some thingsto do ters chase after every gro
prefer not to have foot-lis*; the about them. enemies who run away
chances of a fighter dyiqg are combat, with the avowed inten-
pretty high, and organizep are When Chuacten Don’t tion of running them down and
not required or expected to have Accept Surrender killing them.
a high-level priest on hapd to
raise some peasant warrie who When your The beet way to counter this
dies in a competition. characters won’t ever accept an attitude, and persuade the PCs
enemy’s surrender, you have a to let the occasional band of in-
Prizes often consist of peap- serious problem, hecam it also consequential NPCs and mon-
ons and minor jewelry, ubually means that those characters sters escape, is to have such
not as expensive or fanky as won’t ever surrenderthemselves enemies set up traps along their
those awarded to thejousters. (because they know it always escape route. If the PCs pursue,
means certain death), and that they get caught in the traps and
Merchants’ Stalls you can never have two charac- suffer w a g e and embarrass-
ment. That will teach them to be
Also preqentat ters (FCand NFC) fight and later more cautiousin future events.
larger tournaments are rows end up as allies (unlessthey’re
upon rows of merchants’ ptalls: both chaotic evil, for instance). Once the characters see ene-
a large tournamentis a faskinat- mies getting away, they may
ing place to go shopping, land a You can enforce the right of come tothe realizationthat they
good place to find experts in all may themselves occasionally
sorts of craft-making, wqapon- your NPCs to surrender (and ex- flee and get away.
making, and armor-makidg. pect to live through it) through a
couple of means.

88

wheh P e sand (2) The DM asks the players or aggressive NPCs, could bring
what they will do; about a combatimmediately. But
combat, an NPC may try to cblm if that doesn’t occur, the PCs and
things down, call for the itwo (3) Initiative is rolled: and NPCs can Wk, argue, choose to
sides to part and cdase (4) Combat is resolved in ini- fight or agree to cooperate, what-
fighting-at least for a while. It tiative order. ever they chPose.
may be that the NPC hasfigured In a lot of campaigns,Step 2 is
out b a t the two parties should skipped. The DM decides what If the two groups decide to
be yllied, or that he wants to the NPCsor monstersare doing, fight, roll initiative normally.
brib the Pes, or even conduct has everyone roll initiative, and
then asks the player-characters, Tactics
x .SUIT nder negotiations . . from as their actions come up, what
they’re doing. All too often, a
9 position of strength. But if you’re using Called warrior character simply
If dour charactersnever nego- Shots, you have to be diligent charges up to the front line in
tiatel once againyour campaign about keeping Step 2 in the se- every combat, and in non-
options are limited. You have to quence, so that the characters’ combat situqtions sits back and
brut’ -force some sense into Called Shots can be established listenswhile his wiser mage and
the$ A good way to do this is to before initiative is rolled.
havethe PCsfight an NPC group andle all the nig-
who ‘have a hostage or artifact Waiting on Initiative the adventurer’s
crucialto the PCs. The NPCssay There’s an- mbat.
theylwill kill the hostage or de- Well, neither of these ap-
ssttroop$ ftihghe tainrtgifafocrt if the PCsdon’t other good reason not to skip proachesis particularly good.
a minute. And Step 2 of the Combat Sequence: In combat, the front-line at-
theytre telling the truth . . . tack is only one of several op-
Or@ the PCshave lost several Though combat is the war- tions the party needs to cover.
hostages or artifacts dear to rior’s profession, some DMs And out of combat, the fighter
them, they may start reconsid- launch the player-characters is admirably suited to dealing
erind their reactionary policies. into combat more often than with several everyday details
And once they get in the habitof they necessarily need to. that concern the adventuring
doin4a little talkingwith theen- party.
emy,,they may figure out that Why is this? It’s because it be- Combat Tactics
they pan also initiate such com- comes very easy to narrate an
munication in future combats. encounterthis way: “You round When the
the corner and there, 30 feet characters (notjust the warrior-
Notes On the ahead,you seea partyof six ores characters)enter combat, these
Combat Sequence advancing. They see you, too. are some things that the warrior
Roll for initiative.” should remember and provide
Here are a cou-
ple of tips to give you more op- Once again,Step 2 is skipped; Shield-Walls and Polearms
tionsl in combat. and, merely by saying “Roll for As has been
initiative,” you presume that
Called Shots the player-characterswill attack mentionea Defore, a character
With all the the orcs, and that the orcs will with a polearm (or long spear,or
attack the PCs. Not only do you javelin) can standbehind a char-
rules and options we’ve presume it: You practically acterwith a Shorterweapon and
duced in The Complete guarantee it. The players will attack the same targets that his
er’s ,Handbook,we need to follow the DM’s call for initia- ally is attacking. That’s one of
remilhd you to be diligent ab@t tive, and combatisjoined before the principal advantages to the
askirig about Called Shots dbr- anyone figures out that they polearm, but it’s ignored all too
ing *e Combat Sequence. had other options.
The charqct& with the po-
In h e game, combat folldws If this has become your habit learm positions himself behind
when DMing, try substituting an ally, preferably a fighter with
some other statement instead:
Ask “What doyou do?” insteadof
calling for initiative rolls. This
gives the players the opportunity
to talk to or challenge the other
party. Combat might result any-
way; a particularly militant PC,

Combat Rules

+-a shield. Because the pol practiced by woIf-pacl&l, this of- be missilkrs, carrying bow,
ten has the effect of confusing crossbow, or even sling or
fighter must work aroun the the prey and reducing its fight- throwing +ives.
friend in front of him, he s i e r s ing effectiveness.The prey feels
a bite to its rear and turns to at- This givfs the party a certain
a -2 to hit anyone on the Qther tack there; butwhile it‘s concen- amountof versatility.The heavy

side of his friend. Howev r, he trating on enemies in that
isn’t limitedjust to the ene y of direction, the wolves now to its
the man he’s standing beh d If rear make their attack.
our polearmherois stan o are
hind a line of three men (w In the AD&D@game, the wolf-
+aatntyaocnkeawnhyoofisthcloossee tehnroeue mhetno
side-by-side), he can stri e at pack tactic can have similar ef-

with a medium-lengthw+on. fects . . . if the DM wishes to tention tc) doing unreturned
This is useful in a comb+ be- allow it to. If the DM approvesof damage tr$ the melee-fighting
cause the polearm wielder can this tactic, he can cooperate by enemies.
attack targets without tieing having the monster, for a few
right in their faces, or rounds at least, behave in the It’s e s p p a l l y good when
with them. That predictable fashion: Each characters can mix and match
switch targets without any round, the monster turns and their roles. Any character can
fancy footwork. When one pf his attacks the group that attacked
buddies is foundering,or w n g it last, which is now defending. or a throwing axe at
a beating, the polearm w$lder This will give the party several becomea missiler in
can begin attacking that bud- rounds of combat where it has a matter qf seconds, for exam-
ple.

dy’s enemy. the advantage and can whittle
And don’t forget the polWrm the monster down. Rotation
vs. polearm Parry,as desckibed But be aware: Even if the DM
above under that manedver’s is nice enough to give you this It often hap-

description. slight tactical advantage, even-
tually even the stupidest mon-
ster will get wise and try to .fighting. . and then must con-
Wolf-Pack Tactics break through the circle of fight- because he has
When tht ad- ers. A good thing doesn’t last
forever. be the cas&.
venturing party gets in combat
with a single large mobster It may be thatyour DM has no %In a lar e party combat, par-
which can be confrontev di- interest in letting this tactic
rectly (like a troll, for work. Ask him if it has a chance ticularly amaged front-line
and unlike a dragon, of doing somegood in your cam-
a strong mix of paign. If he says no,don’t even froTfighters c h be “rotated out,”
ranged combat abilities, and try it. Even if he says yes, he the front line and re-
mobility), it‘s foolishjust tb line may not remember to grantthat
little benefit: if, after a few wolf- placed by less hurt warrior. . .
up and hack at the thing. Idfact, pack attempts. you haven’t
seenit work once, giveup on the or not repl+ced at all: The shield-
it‘s not necessarily cleverjlllst to tactic. wall (i.e., the other front-line
surround the monster andlhack fighters) aan close ranks and
at it. ‘Iiy this instead plug up thk hole.

Surround the monstdr, of See the qulesfor Retreat (Play-
course. er’sHandbook,page 97). During
On the f m t round, half @f the Tactical Mix his combat action, the injured
man annbunces that he’s re-
circle of heroes should peeorm for the fighting charaGters (in-
a Parry,or the Parrying m+neu- cluding rogues and priests) in a treating; t / ~ally or allies he
ver from the DMG. The Dther
half should attack as vigorbusly party to represent a mix of stood side by-side with need to
as possible. weapons and combat styles. announce Ithat they’re blocking
On the second round. the Several should be front-line pursuit (i.k.. they’re moving so
action switches: The @oup fighters, bearing heavy armor that the epemy can’t just wan-
which attacked last round, now and large, damaging weapons. der in thrbugh their line). That
defends, and the grow rl-hich Oneor twowould be behind-the- puts the p r t man behind his
defended now attacks. lines fighters, carrying po- own line, where he can keep
away f r o 4 damage or even seek
some healbg.

ne of the polearm figh ers The spear-carrier is given a and issues drders to his allies.
commodating, they an single weapon of his own, such The tacitical coordinator
the rest of their co bat as a spear, and also carries a
round to switch weapons. he couple of extra weapons, which Campaign Tactics
injured man takes the polea , are party-owned weapons- I The warrior
and the other fighter takes the such as a long sword in a back
front-line weapons. On t eir sheath and a short sword on his bisn’t helples or useless outside
belt, for instance.
inext combat round, the u in- of combat, e ther.
In combat, he stays behind In situatio,s where the party
jured man moves up into the the line and takesthe occasional
line and the injured man be ins spear-poke at the enemy over is preparing,for an adventure,
whacking enemies with his,PO- the line. Whenever a PC loses a planning a rplission, or just ar-
weapon (to a fumble, or an ene- riving in a nqw place (town, cas-
This is a good way to kbep my’sDisarm,or when a weapon tle, whateqer), the fighters
is shattered by a foe), the spear- (especially tbe combat leader)
Spear-Carriers I carrier uses his next available
combat round to move in close learning the fol-
paigns, players hav and give the PC one of the extra
killed so that the PCs weapons he’s carrying. . . . and reporting

That’s patently ridi The spear-carrieris also useful Combats and
adventuring party wi for keeping a more distanteye on
titude would s what’sgoing on with the combat. 1Combat Missions:
He might notice new enemies ar- What’s the
taverns alwa riving on thehorizon,or noticean lay of the 4 nd? The fighters
told them to buzz off, etc. enemyskulkingto getaroundthe should get d tailed descriptions
edge of the shield-wall, before a (and, if-pos ible, maps) of the
However, there’s player-characterhasthe opportu- area where t$ey will be fighting;
spear-carrier NPC nity to do so. this will help^ them plot strategy,
group of adventur ambushes, eFc.
consider hiring-an Since this character is an
actual spear-carrier. NPC, he doesn’t have to share
the player-characters’ frantic
strapping youth w desire to make every combat
to come along with them round of every combat count for
promise of some treasu something. He can afford to
combat training. T keep an eye on things and won’t
youth shouldn’t b necessarilybe desperateto bang
armor and put up front to be on an enemy every round.
killed: Instead, he
charged with A variant of this character is
the spear-carrier devoted to a
specific PC. A PC who is a spear-
thrower, for instance, might
have a page or squire devoted to
carrying two or three extra
spears for him. In such a case,
the PC is usually responsiblefor
teaching the page or squire to
fight (without getting him
killed) so that NPC might some-
day become a knight.

Direc C

Here’s how it works: It’s very help-
ful for one fighter in a party to
act as tactical coordinator (that
is, combatleader). In combat,he
keeps his eye on the situation

7l

What sort of forces does the likely to require specialized came to be: perhaps there’s a
opposition muster? This might equipment, and it‘s the fighters’ clue to getting things fured in
be details of the enemy army, or responsibility to determine the history of the matter. Get-
the garrison of a castle the he- what sort of equipment that is ting details of the magic of the
roes want to invade, or just ru- situation;only a mage can prop-
mors of what might be found in ...and then to get it. erly evaluate these details; per-
the dark dungeon the charac- haps the mage can arrange or
ters intend to explore. JustArriving In Town research a counter-spell useful
What are the in the situation.
Is anything strange going on
characters’ moms like? Wheth- Priestscan take responsibil-
at thesite?Ifthereis,itmightbe er the heroes are being accom- ity for: Learning what the local
symptomatic of something im- modated hy friends, by an inn, priests think of the situation.
portant to the characters. Do the or by a local ruler or noble, the Communing with their deities
locals hear grumblings and fighter should check out their to see ifthe deity has any proph-
rumblingsdeep in the earth that rooms in terms of defensibility. ecy, advice or admonition to of-
weren’t there before? This If the heroes are attacked in fer. Provisioning the party: the
might indicate that a dragon their rooms in the middle of the priest is best suited to arranging
night in the dark. the fighter for ordinary provisions (food,
has moved in . . . or that some- should know (because he’s pre- clothing, etc.).
pared himself in advance) how
one is doing some mining se- many exits there are from the Rogues can take responsi-
cretly. Are there suddenly a lot room, whether they are open. bility for: Putting an ear to the
of strangers in town? This closed, or locked, how defensi- street (that is, the people of the
might mean the enemy has ble the room is, what story it is street) and seeing what‘s afoot;
spies in town, or is hiring new on and how far it is to the it‘s always a clue to the resolu-
warriors, who pass through ground, etc. He might wish to tion of a problem if the rulers
town on route totheir fmal desti- consult with the Rogue, who say one thing and the common
nation. Whenever there’s some- might he inclined to check for people say something different
thing strange going on, the secret doors or traps, or on the abouta situation.Evaluatingin-
heroes will have to face its feasibility of going up to the roof filtration and break-in opportu-
source eventually, and should when the heroes go out the win- nities: the rogue is best suited to
be as prepared as possible. dow. determining how possible and
When the fighters hear of some- useful it would be to getting a
What are the local laws? The spy in the enemy camp, break-
thing strange going on,they re- fighter should find out what the ing in to a specific site, etc.
local ordinances are concerning
ally ought to consult with the the carryingof weapons and the Naturally, all these descrip-
mages and priests, who might wearing of armor. If it turns out tions are generalizations. Any
thateither isillegalor restricted, specific character might he par-
have ideas on the matter based he ought to let his friends know ticularly talented at one of these
on their own fields of learning. about it. Contrary to what some roles, even if he belongs to a
campaigning groups think, lo- “wrong” character class. But
Can the heroes count on local cal communities have the right someone should undertake
help? If this is a combat assault, to make such laws and enforce each of these tasks; otherwise,
can the heroes request, hire or the characters are going into a
levy local troops to back them them . . . and when player- situation knowing less than
up? If they can, and the situa- they could know about it.
tion warrants it, they should. charactersdefy the local author-
But if they never ask, they al- ities, refuse to take off armor or The Combat Sheet
most never get help. abandon weapons, and even at-
tack and killlocal peaceofficers, On page 122is
Can the heroes hire local ex- the PCs are for the moment vil- a Combat Sheet. One side con-
perts? If their mission is to take lains,not heroes. tains information for PCs, the
them into an area where a local other is for the DM to record vi-
knows more about the situation The other character classes tal combat statistics ahout the
than they do, it‘s a good idea for have their own subjects to ex- Characters.
the characters to hire a local ex- plore in the same situations. By
pert. Guideswho know the local comparison:
sites, especially, are an invalu-
able resource. Mages can take responsibil-

What sort of equipment will ity for: Learning the history of
theparty need? Any sort of spe- the current situation, how it

cial situation (walls to climb,
specific monsters to fight. inter-

terrain to cross, etc.) is

92

II

IEquipment

Warriors do not live by ra Examales Two-Handed Only
combat talent alone (thou& Each of the Ar

they've been known to die by it . weapons from the Player's Blowgun, Bows (all)
(all), Mancatcher,Po
No, they also need equipmen, Handbook falls into one of those Quarterstaff, Sling lone
Gad, one hand tgthrow), Staff
the toals of their trade: wea - %ur categories,as follows: sling, Sword/Two-handed.

ons, annor, and miscellaneou One-Handed Only More On One-Handed or
Dagger/dirk, Two-Handed
gear appropriate to the warrio -
Dart, Footman's mace, Hand/ I As you car
class. throwing axe, Knife, Lances
In this chapter, we'll tal (all), Scourge, Sickle, Sword/ see, five weapons fall into thc
Khopesh, Sword/Scimitar, One-Handed Or 'Iho-Han
aboutthat equipment,and ela - Sword/Short,Whip. category: The Bastard Swo
and four spear-like weapo
Iorate on the weapons and arm0
(Harpoon, Javelin, Spear, Tr
presented in the Player's Han -
dent).
book.
Old Weapons t One-Handed But Can Be In the Player's Handbook,it
Wielded Two-Handed
W G need presumed that you're fightin
attle axe, with Spear one-handed, anc
clarifysome details about club, bo flail, Foot- with Harpoon, Javelin, and 3-i
ons whieh appeared in dent two-handed. (This is
cause Spear is a Medi
er's Handbook. weapon and the others ar
Large.) However, in The Com-
man's pick, Horseman's flail,
One-Hand, Two-Hand Horseman's mace, Horseman's plete Fighter's Handbook, any
Weapons, for pick, Morningstar,Sword/Long,
and Warhammer. of theseweapons can be used ei-
purposes of how they're held.
and widded, fall into four cate- One-Handed Or Two-Handed
gories: one-handed only, one- Harpoon, Jav-
handed but can be wielded
two-handed,one-handedor two- elin, Spear, Sword/Bastard,7l-i-
handed, or two-handedonly. dent.

One-Handed Only means th
weapon can only be wielded
one-handed,in one hand or the
other.

One-Handed But Can Be
Wielded "Wo-Handed refers to a

weapon pMci@y designed for
one-handedusebutwhich c q b~e
used two-handed. These wea-
pons have enough haft or hilt on
them that the wielder can wield

.theweapon in both hands,which

confers no benefit . . unless the

character has taken a Style Spe-

cialization in Wo-Hander Fight-
ing Style (see the description of
TWO-Hander technique in the
Cornbat chapter).

One-Handed Or Two-Handed
weapons are designed specifi-
cally to be used with one or both
hands, and have separate darn-
age listings for the two different
fighting styles.

"bo-Handed Only weapons

can only be wielded in two^

hands.

But they can also be wielded Misslle Weapon Ranges heading that corresponds to
two-handed,and do eve@more that culture or Warrior Kit.
damage when they are. The ta-
ble shows both the one- anded L If, for instance,your character
isn’t a Gladiator, he can’t start
1and two-handed dama e for play with a drusus. In fact, if he
each of the four weapons1 doesn’t belong to a culture
a .WAelLsoo,ntgoStpheisarl.isTthwise’irse1 which has gladiators, never
ddmg 3 travels to such a culture, and
ke the 21 doesn’t even fmd a market with
ordinary spear, but mou ted on contactswith such a culture,he
can never even get a drusus.
7a much longer [12’-18‘) shaft.
It‘s not especially suited to one- Javelin, So the DM, and DM alone, de-
cides how accessible each of
+handed use, but inflicts lot of these weapons is based on how
damage when used two- many ties the campaign culture
handa. haswith theculturethatcreates
The Harpoon, these weapons. Even if he says
and ’Mdent can Knife, that there is contact, it may not
but the thrown weapon stone 3 be possibleor easy for PCs to ac-
quire these weapons; just be-
is always the one-hande dam- 146 cause samuraivisit the court of
age, never the two-hande4dam- your king doesn’t mean that
age. The Long Spear is nc)tbuilt ’ 29 they’d be willing to sell their
f w throwing. treasured katanas, after all.
These five spear-likewdapons
are as fast and maneu*rable In short, acquisition of this
when used two-handed;~there- type of equipment is left as an
fore. unlike the Bastard Sword,
their speed factor doejs not The chain, lasso and net are exercise in role-playingand ad-
worsen when they are usdd two- venture, in played-out game
handed. included in the table above be-
cause their use, in combat, is sessions, not as something as
New Weapons much like a missile weapon.
They have ranges relatedto the simple as dropping some gold
Several of the pieces off your charactersheet.
warrior-kits described iln the length of the chain. the lasso or
Advanced Warrior Typeschap- Gladiator Weapons
ter mentioned new w e a w s ap- the net‘s trailing rope. Gladiators are
propriateto those warriorLypes.
On the next page is a chad of all The “*” means the weapon 3trained. a variety of weapons.
those new weapons: a liti$e fur-
ther on we’ll discuss whajt they doesn’t precisely have a rate of In additi to the new weapons
are and how they’re used on the c art above, gladiators
fre; it may be used as often as can be .ned in the following,
Many of these weapong have more pommonly-available,
special abilities, the character’s level (and per?
haps specialization)dictatesfor weapons: 1 Long bow (any type),
on the chart: a melee weapon.
fShort bo (any type), Dagger,
for some of the weapons. Use of These Tables
Other weapons, particplarly The fact that Footman’ flail, Knife, Halberd,
Scourge, imitar,Short sword,
the bone and stone ones,I seem these weapons appear on tables Spear, lti ent, and Whip.
to be of very limited in an ADBrD” game product
doesn ’t mean that players may The sh rt swordused by glad-
cussed a little immediatelybuy theseweapons iators, in identally, is a short,
section. for their characters. These straight-baded weapon sharp-
weapons are not commonly ened on th edges: it is called

.available, and may only be and gladiators take

taken with DM permission . .

and that permission should de-
pend on the character’s origin.

You see, each of these weap
ons is appropriate to a certain
culture [and to the Warrior Kits

belonging to that culture); and
each of theseweapons is further
described below, under the

94

c Equipment

Style Specialization in th
% This weapon is intende
& This weapon is intende
This weapon inflicts do set to receikc:d charge.
fi m e “Type” category i 95

I Bolas gling him. (This does not work if When wearing a cestus or two
the character was wearing a
The bolas are Close-Faced Helm or a Great cesti,a character may still make
three balls attached to ropes or Helm. described later this chap- a Grab maneuver with the hand
cordsabout a yard in length: the ter.) The bolas do the listed dam-
other ends of the cords are tied age on the round they hit. the cestus is on.This attack will
together in a knot. The wielder Thereafter. on each successive
of the bolas whirls them by the round where they begin the be at a -2 to hit for clumsiness,
knot and throws them at a tar- round stillon the victim’s throat,
get: if they hit, they wrap they do ld3 hp of damage from and a -2 to the attacker’s
around the target, with the balls strangulation. The damage Strength (for purposes of hold-
~’ smashing painfully into the tar- stops when they are removed or ing on)likewise.
get as they connect. Once they when the target is dead.
have wrapped themselves Cestus, because it is simply a
around a target, it takes the vic- Weapon proficiency with the bonus to punching-type at-
tim one full round and a suc- Bolas is not related to any other tacks, does not require weapon
. . cessful ability check vs. weapon proficiency. Specializa- proficiency: anyone can use
Strength to get them fre. (Ifthe tion grantstheusual benefits. In cesti with no proficiency pen-
character fails his Strength case of a Called Shot to the tar- alty. Therefore, Specialization
check, he does not get the bolas get’s head, the damage bonus with Cestus costs only weapon
free this round.) only appliesto the initial hit; it is proficiency slot.
not added to the subsequent
This weapon does only a little rounds of strangulation. In a culture where there is
damage, but it is especially use-
ful if you are using the Hit Loca- Any leatherworker or weap- gladiatorial combat, cesti are
tions rules from the Combat onsmith can make a set of bolas readily available from weapon-
.. Rules chapter. smiths, but they are not ex-
. . .but he must have exact mea- ported, as they’re such a basic
If the attacker makes a Called weapon the market is not very
Shot to the target’s Legs (he surements for the cords and ex- good. Any foreign weaponsmith
doesn’t have to specify which if act weights for the balls to do it who has cesti described to him
the attack hits, it hits both), and right. Simply hearing such a can make perfectly functional
successfully attacks, the bolas weapon described, the crafts- cesti: the first two cesti he
wrap themselves tightly around man can make somethinglike it makes will be at twice the listed
his legs. He can no longer run or . . . but unless he makes his cost, and subsequent ones will
walk until he gets them free. He craftsman ability check by 3 or be at the listed cost.
must make a Dexterity check better, the weapon he makes
just to avoid falling down. In will he proportioned wrong and I
will be at a -4 to hit.
The Drusus is
fact, if he was moving when the a Gladius (short sword) of Ex-
attack was made, he suffers a ceptional quality (as per the
types of weapon quality de-
scribed in the Character Crea-
Cestus
tionchapter of this rule book). It
-3 penalty to his Dexterity The cestus is a looks just like an ordinary gla-
check to avoid falling down. glovelike weapon, studded with dius: only by testing the sharp-
If the attacker makes a Called sharp spikes and edges on the ness of the blade can someone
Shot to the target’s Arms (again, back of the glove and across the tell the difference. The Drusus
he doesn’t have to specify: both knuckles. Gladiators fighting has been forged so that the
will be hit) and successfully at- with the cestus usually wear metal is better-tempered and
tacks, the bolas wrap them- two, one on each hand (the plu- holds an edge better, and then
selves tightly around.his arms ral is cesti): here, it pays for a sharpened until it has a razor-
and torso. He cannot wield his gladiator to have Cestus Wea- like edge.
weapon and does not get the AC pon Specialization, ’ h o - Because of this, it does +1
bonus of his shield until he gets Weapon Style Specialization, damage and confers a non-
himself free. His roll to free him- and/orPunchingSpecialization. magical + 1to hit over the nor-
self is at a -2 penalty to his Cestuscombatisvery popular mal gladius. (This means the
Strength ability score because with arena crowds because it is wielding character gets a + 1 to
he has no leverage. extremely bloody and up-close. hit when using the weapon, but
If the attacker makes a Called Also, because the weapons do the weapon does not give him
Shot to the target‘s Head, the bo- comparatively little damage, the abilityto hit monsterswhich
las wrap themselves aroumd the the fighters tend to last a long require magical weapons to i e
target‘s neck and begin stran- time in combat. fect.)

96



The Drusus also has a disad- lariat settles over the target,giv- 1, , ,
vantage. In order to keep its ing the wielder the chance to
keen edge. it must be regularly dismount him, pull him to the !I
sharpenedwith a lot more atten-
tion and time than an ordinary ground, trip him.etc. make Strength ability rolls. If he
weapon requires. After any day rolls his better than you roll
in which the Drusus has been In other words, when you at- yours, the lasso is torn from
fought with (even one attack!), your hands and you take ld2
someone with either the Ar- tack someone with a lasso,you damage. If you roll yours better
morer or Weaponsmith second- than he rolls his, you yank him
ary skill, or the Blacksmithing, must declarewhat you’re trying from his saddle and he takes
Armorer, or Weaponsmithing to accomplish with the attack. ld3 from impact with the lasso
nonweapon proficiency, must and the earth. If you both make
sharpen the blade for half an If you’re trying to trip him, your roll by the same amount,
you’re trying to make the loop then both results occur: the
hour . . . or, on the next day, it settle about his legs. This re- lasso is yanked from your
quires a Called Shot at the legs hands, doing ld2 to you, and
will act as an ordinary short as per the Hit Locationssection he’s yanked from his horse, tak-
sword (losing its to-hitand dam- of the Combat Rules chapter. ing ld3. (Incidentally, if you’ve
age bonus) until it is so sharp- had time to tie your rope to an
ened. If you hit, he must make a absolutely stationary object,
Dexterity ability roll, with the like a boulder, you don’thave to
Exposure to high heat (a usual modifiers for the PulVlIip roll against your Strength abil-
smith’s forge, dragon’sbreath, maneuver; if he fails, he falls, ity; you win this contest unless
lava, etc.) will ruin the temper and if he succeeds, he’s able to your target rolls a 1, in which
on a Drusus. turning it into an jump out of your loop before it case the rope breaks and he can
ordinary short sword and for- closes. ride off laughing.)
ever destroying its to-hit and
damage bonus. If you’re trying to pin his arms If you’re trying to lasso a tar-
to his sides, you’re trying to get’s head (for example, when
The Drusus uses the same make the loop settle about his you’re up in a tree and your tar-
’ weapon proficiency as the short torso and arms. This requires a get is an unsuspecting guard
Called Shot at the arms as per walking below), this is a Called
sword. If a character can use a the Hit Locations section of the Shotto hisHead as per the usual
short sword, he can use a Dru- rules.
Combat Rules chapter.
sus with equal proficiency. If. after the modifiers,you still
Weapon specialization with one If you hit, he must make a hit, you can yank for ld3 dam-
does transfer to the other. Strength ability roll, again with age (plus your Strength bonus).
the usual modifiersfor PulUlIip. On subsequentrounds, you can
In cultures where there are If he succeeds, he shrugs the yank for 1point of damage each
gladiators, any weaponsmith loop offbefore you can pull it (plus your Strength bonus). But
with a weaponsmithing ability taut. Ifhe fails, you pull the loop if you’re in a position to hoist
check of 14or better can make a taut. Both of his arms are your target up in the air (for in-
Drusus for the cost shown. pinned, a s in the Pin maneuver. stance, if you’re up on a tree-
These weapons are seldom ex- The target gets to struggle each branch, lasso your victim, and
ported, as local demand is high round, also as per the Pin ma- then drop off the branch on the
for the few made. A foreign neuver rules. Each additional otherside, holding ontothe rope
weaponsmith could not make lasso that hits the target to pin to hoist your victim up), you do
one merely if it were described him gives him a -4 to his your victim Id4 points ofstran-
to him: he would have to study Strength ability for purposes of gulation damage per round
with a local weaponsmith. Hav- his struggling. When his (Strength bonus does not apply
Strength reaches 0, he has no to this). If he can get his knife
ing done so, he could make the chance of escaping. free and cut himself loose. that‘s
good for him: if not, it‘s good for
weapon. If you’re trying to dismount a you. While strangling, a victim
cannot shout or raise the alarm.
lasso rider, you’re trying to make the
loop settle about his torso-and If you’re trying to drop your
The lasso, or then brace yourself for the im- loop around the head of a
lariat, is a length of rope with a pact (when his mount‘s move-
loop at the end; the wielder ment reaches the end of your mounted rider. . .well, it‘s diffi-
holds the slack in his off- rope, both you and he are going
twirls the lasso in his to be jarred). This doesn’t re- cult, but possible. Make it as a
hand, and hurls the loop standard Called Shot to the
target. On a successful hit, the quire a Called Shot: You must

merely hit your target normally.
If you hit, both you and the

unfortunate rider must now