Spes Magna Games

Probably my favorite thing about the Old-School Essentials combat sequence is the declaration phase at the start of each round. This phase occurs before initiative is rolled. Placing the declaration phase prior to initiative injects a further degree of uncertainty into something as dangerous as combat involving swords, spells, and sinister monsters. Since I’m looking to start something like an OSE campaign about mid-January, I’ve started tweaking the core rules a bit. One of the things that’s gotten the tweak is the combat sequence. My rough draft version follows this paragraph. Nota Bene: Thirds of movement are always bumped up to the next 5-foot increment (e.g., 13.33 feet rounds to 15 feet).

Phase 1 – Monster Morale. Checked after the first round of combat in most cases.
Phase 2 – Declare Spells. PCs that are going to cast spells start the process this phase by committing to spellcasting.
Phase 3 – Initiative. Roll 1d6 for each side. Individual modifiers are applied to the roll. Tied initiative is possible.
Phase 4 – Actions. The initiative-winning side acts first during each subphase. Slow weapons always act last in a subphase regardless of initiative.
▶ 4A – First Third Movement. A PC casting a spell may not move.
▶ 4B – Missile Attacks. Resolve all missile attacks before the next phase begins.
▶ 4C – Second Third Movement. A PC casting a spell may not move.
▶ 4D – Spells Are Cast. Resolve all spell effects before the next phase begins.
▶ 4E – Third Third Movement. A PC who cast a spell may move.
▶ 4F – Melee Attacks. Resolve all melee attacks before the next round begins.

Tweaking the combat sequence made tweaking Movement in Melee rules sensible:

Movement in Melee: If engaged in melee combat, movement is halved for the phase. Choosing to move at more than half speed means the mover cannot attack, and foes in melee with the mover get a free, immediate attack with a +3 bonus to hit.

Also, since I’m not particularly fond of precision archery into or while in melee combat, I’ve added this rule:

Missiles in Melee: Making a missile attack while engaged in melee combat imposes a -2 “to-hit” penalty. Launching a missile attack into melee? Roll to hit and then determine the actual target randomly. Small creatures count as 1, man-sized as 2, and larger creatures as 3 or more (at Referee’s discretion). For example, an elf fires an arrow at the ogre fighting a dwarf, a cleric, and a halfling. That’s 7 “size points” of creatures in the melee. Roll 1d8. 1 targets the dwarf, 2-3 targets the cleric, 4 targets the halfling, and 5-8 targets the ogre.

Tags: OSE