This document is available for the following uses only: personal viewing and the printing of a personal copy. Further distribution is prohibited without the permission of the author. This document is located at http://www.pmg.lcs.mit.edu/~andru/nc/
Revision of October, 1989. Minor revisions for HTML distribution, July 1996
NC is designed in several separate modules that can be plugged into a AD&D campaign while leaving the rest of the system the same. It is not necessary to buy into the entire system. In particular, the combat system does not require the use of the skill system or character system, and simple conversion tables are provided for using standard AD&D characters with the combat.
Paul Isherwood, Joe Boyt, and Robert Reimann have all contributed to the system and/or its presentation here, and I'm very grateful for their excellent ideas and help.
The purpose of NC is to keep the simplicity of the most playable systems, while making the internal workings of the system more believable and intuitively satisfying. At the same time, playing with NC is intended to be fast and simple. To keep combat fast, NC has only two commonly-used tables. In addition, the work of running combat is spread among all the players, so the referee is not as much of a bottleneck as in other systems.
Because the NC model of combat is simple and intuitive, it is much easier to introduce new monsters and weapons into the system. In fact, it is not restricted solely to fantasy role-playing, but can be used for role-playing games of all kinds, at any level of play.
These rules assume that you are fairly familiar with "standard" fantasy role-playing systems, since they use much of the terminology of the field. Like all role-playing games, NC is just a framework to play with. If you don't like something, change it! The whole idea of NC is to provide a powerful basic framework, into which you can fit your own gaming ideas and rules. NC is an extensible system.
A related problem is the healing problem. Why is it that healers are much more effective healing low-level peasants than high-level warriors? Again, this is an absurd product of common role-playing rules.
Another problem with combat is the computation of the chance to hit. While this system works well at low levels in most role-playing systems, at higher levels it tends to break down, as the chance to hit rapidly approaches 100%, regardless of the skill of the opponent being attacked. High-level characters can't possibly survive without wearing extremely magical armor, because their defensive skill doesn't really count. This part of the combat system will be replaced with a new method which works for all character levels, and for both standard and highly technological weapons, such as handguns.
Determining the success of other player actions (e.g. climbing a wall, dodging the fiery breath of a dragon, resisting the effects of a spell) is integrated in one unified approach which avoids the twin pitfalls of innumerable tables and characters who can never mess up.
While NC may at first seem complex, it is really quite simple and intuitive. A few basic concepts drive the structure of the entire system. The elegance of the system can even aid role-playing, because the player finds it easier to picture what is happening. Of course, the only guarantee of real Role-Playing ® is the players themselves.
During most combat situations, only two tables need be used. These tables are printed on the back sheet of this document. Combat "to-hit" rolls, damage calculations, saving throws, and skill rolls are all made using these two tables.
Hit points in NC are exactly 10 times as small as hit points in most fantasy role-playing systems. An ordinary person with 6 hit points in standard systems would have 60 hit points in NC.
If using A human character's hit points are equal to 60 (the "base hit point value" for humans) plus his usual constitution bonus times 10. (If using the NC Character system, the constitution bonus is determined using the attributes of fitness and fortitude.) Hit point value is independent of class; other considerations give fighters, for example, a considerable advantage over magic-users in taking physical punishment.
A bonus of 2 hit points per level may be granted. Thus, a fifth-level character has 70 hit points, plus his constitution bonus. A seventh-level character has 74 hit points, plus his constitution bonus. A seventh-level character with a constitution of 17 has 104 hit points.
The level of a multi-classed character, for the purpose of determining hit points, is equal to the sum of his levels. A 3rd level fighter/4th level mage with an average constitution has the same number of hit points as a 7th level thief of the same constitution: 74.
Other races will have a different base hit point value. Suggested base hit point values for various races may be found in the tables at the rear of this document. Note that this system also simplifies the incorporation of "non-standard" races into the system.
Most characters and monsters are a bit more lively, however, and can avoid some of the damage. Combat skills enable an individual to avoid much of the force of a blow, and armor helps to absorb some damage.
For example, an orc claws a fighter across the chest. His claw does 10-60 hit points of damage, and let's say the orc rolls 40 hit points, using a six-sided die. The fighter avoids most of the blow, using his combat skills and equipment, and takes only 12 points of damage. How this is actually determined will be described below in detail. Of course, actual mileage will vary, and depends on the fighter's abilities and armor.
Ordinary healing spells should heal 2-20 hit points of damage. This makes the spells less effective at low levels, but more effective at higher levels.
The ability of a character to function in combat is most generally measured in terms of his fighter level. The fighter level of a character is the level of fighter who would have the same chance to hit an opponent.
A quick conversion chart is provided in the appendices for determining the fighter levels of other character classes and monsters. This chart is actually useful for other role-playing systems as well.
If you are playing with the full set of NC rules, then your character's offensive fighter level will be equal to his level of skill with the weapon he is using, modified by his character attributes. His defensive fighter level will be equal to his skill in hand-to-hand combat. For more information, read The NC Skill System.
A character's offense ability is his ability to attempt and complete a successful attack with a hand-to-hand weapon. OF is equal to his fighter level, modified as in usual role-playing systems by his strength "to hit" modifier, and by the magical pluses ("to hit" modifiers only) of his weapons. This ability measures the character's ability to attempt and complete a successful attack with a hand-to-hand weapon.
If the weapon being used is a projectile weapon, then the offense ability is equal to the fighter level, modified by the dexterity reaction adjustment, as in standard role-playing systems. Certain projectile weapons, such as longbows, slings, throwing knives, etc., are difficult to use, and an additional penalty to OF should be used. These penalties are listed below, and in the appendices.
While it is possible to gain complete mastery of these difficult projectile weapons, such that the wielder of the weapon rarely misses, more training is required to attain that mastery. That is the meaning of the OF penalty.
Weapon OF Penalty
longbow -4
throwing knife -4
crossbow -2
sling -3
spear, javelin -2
handgun -1
Projectile weapons are made somewhat more
deadly in NC because it is difficult to lessen the damage taken from
them. A longbow is an extremely effective weapon in the hands of an
expert.
Additional modifiers to OF may be gained in certain situations. For example, blinded characters fight at -4 OF. Some spells and magic items may also give a bonus to OF.
The defense ability of a character is his ability to avoid blows directed at him. This ability is equal to his fighter level, adjusted by the negative of his dexterity defense adjustment from standard role-playing systems. Thus, a dexterity of 15 gives a +1 adjustment to DF, 16 gives +2, and so on. A shield gives a +2 to DF, and any magical plus on the shield also affects the defense ability accordingly.
By encumbering characters, armor tends to reduce their DF. Adjustments to defense from armor are listed in the Armor Chart.
Characters who are not trained in the martial arts, and who are unarmed (and lacking a shield), face a severe penalty when fighting an armed opponent, because they have nothing to block blows with. A penalty of -4 DF should be applied in this case.
While a character is casting a magical spell, he gains no fighter-level based DF adjustments, nor any adjustments from dexterity. Certain situations and magical items may give a modifier to DF. Characters who are stunned have a -2 modifier to DF. Invisible characters have a +4 modifier to DF. Prone characters have a -2 modifier to DF.
Characters being attacked by high-velocity projectile weapons have difficulty affecting the chance of being hit in the usual manner. When attacked by a projectile weapon, they can only use some of their normal DF ability against the attack. The amount which can be used depends on the type of projectile weapon. Maximum DFs versus various projectile weapons are listed in the projectile weapon table in the appendices.
Added to the target's normal DF, or even to the maximum DF as specified in the projectile weapon table, are some bonuses which take into account the target size and degree of cover. For example, a 25% cover gives a bonus of +2 to DF. A 90% cover gives a bonus of +10. Similarly, concealment in vegetation, behind screens, etc. also gives a bonus to DF. Each halving of the target size (compared to the human body) gives a DF adjustment of +6. A halfling 3 feet tall would gain a bonus of +6 to DF, whereas a giant 12 feet tall would be penalized -6 to DF.
The distance to the target affects the chance of avoiding being hit with a projectile weapon. Each weapon has three different ranges at which different penalties apply. At short range, there is no penalty to the chance to hit. At medium range, there is a +2 DF modifier, and at long range, a +5 DF modifier. The actual distances associated with short, medium, and long range depend on the weapon. Standard fantasy role-playing distances apply.
Targets which are moving rapidly, perpendicular to the direction of fire, may be given a bonus of +2 to DF. This applies to fast flying creatures, creatures in fast-moving vehicles, etc.
Armor Value (AR) is a combat statistic which is based on the actual physical armor which the character is wearing. It is a number which represents the ability of the character to absorb a fixed portion of every blow without taking any damage. This damage is absorbed because the padding of the armor takes much of the shock of the blow, and may also prevent sharp-edged weapons from penetrating the defender.
Different types of physical armor give values of AR ranging roughly from 0 to 40, in steps of 10. When a physical blow is received, the character's AR value is immediately subtracted off. Magical pluses on armor do not add to AR, in general.
A small example: in the example above of the orc clawing the fighter, the fighter was wearing leather armor, with an AR value of 10. This number was subtracted from the blow of 40 damage to yield 30 hit points damage. The 30 hit points were then reduced further, as described below.
Certain monsters, such as dragons, zorns, and other heavily armored creatures, will have AR values in excess of 30. Assignment of AR in excess of this value should be used sparingly.
Damage resulting from magical spells which are of a physical nature (e.g. a spell which creates a wall of whirling blades) should also have AR applied to it. Damage resulting from poison and other non-physical sources should not. The distinction between these spells is at the referee's discretion.
Damage Reduction is the ability of a character to avoid taking full damage from a blow which hits. This ability is actually the result of a number of factors, including sheer combat skill, armor, and protective magic items. The system has been structured in a way which conveniently handles all of these factors in a single ability. DR is applied to the damage received from a blow after the effect of AR has been taken into account. Of course, DR is related to DF conceptually, but DF is not as convenient for handling the absorption of damage. For convenience, this additional statistic has been created. The way to think about DR is that given a certain amount of damage, one applies as many DR points to that damage as possible.
Each character has a base DR (BDR) which is adjusted depending on the situation. The base DR is the character's level, or the highest of his multi-classed levels if multi-classed. The total DR of the character is equal to the base DR, plus any bonuses from armor and magical items.
Against certain attack forms, the character may not be able to apply his/her full BDR against the damage. For example, a sleeping character has an effective BDR of zero. However, DR contributions from armor and magic will still apply.
To physical (hand-held weapons) attacks, certain classes gain a BDR bonus:
Fighters: +3 (Barbarians +4, Rangers +2) Clerics: +2 Thieves: +1 MUs: 0To essentially magical attacks, the following bonuses apply:
Fighters: +0 (Rangers, Paladins +1) Clerics: +1 (+3 vs clerical spells of other creed, for "true" clerics only) Thieves: +0 MUs: +2 (+3 vs same MU-type, i.e. Illusionist vs Illusionist, etc.)These adjustments are referred to here as class-based BDR adjustments.
Dwarves and Halflings also gain an additional race-based +2 BDR versus magical attacks.
A certain fraction of damage is also absorbed by armor, as mentioned above. Various kinds of armor give a bonus to DR; these bonuses are listed in the Armor Chart. Any magical plus to the armor adds to DR, as well.
When a blow is received by a character, the damage taken (after being adjusted by Armor Value, as described above) is reduced according to the character's DR, using the Damage Reduction table. The numbers on the left correspond to different numbers of hit points of damage, computed in the usual fashion; the numbers along the top correspond to different DR levels. The number in the table corresponding to the character's DR and the number of hit points of damage is the number of hit points of damage actually taken by the character.
For non-magical projectile weapons, the BDR has some maximum effective value. If the BDR of a character is higher than this maximal effective BDR, the effective BDR is equal to the maximum value. The maximum BDR for various projectile weapons is listed below. Note that partial or full cover would still give a bonus to DR, as well as some special items in use by the defender. This table affects only the character's BDR.
Spears, Javelins, Daggers, other low-velocity projectiles: 10 Arrows: 4 Crossbows: 3 Handguns: 1 Other high-velocity "Tech" weapons: 1
Magic-users and Clerical types who are attacked during the casting of a spell use a class-based adjustment versus physical attacks of -5.
The DR of a character for any given attack is the sum of all of the appropriate adjustments listed above. Note that at no time can DR go below zero; if the adjustments listed above bring DR below zero, the character's DR is simply zero.
For example, a chance level of 0 corresponds to a 50% chance that the event will occur. A chance level of 10 means a 90% chance that the event will occur. A chance level of -10 means a 10% chance that the event will occur.
Why are chance levels useful? First of all, they are used in combat. The chance level that a attacker will hit a defender is equal to the difference between the attacker's OF and the defender's DF. This will be described later in more detail.
Secondly, they are very convenient for handling bonuses or penalties to success. For example, say that a thief has a chance level of -5 for climbing walls, a 27% chance of success. If the wall is particularly easy to climb, it might be described giving a +4 to climbing, and the thief's actual chance level would be -1, or 45%. Conversely, if the wall is difficult to climb, giving a -4 to climbing, the thief would have a chance level of -9, or 13%. If the wall is extremely hard to climb (-8), the thief has a -13 chance level, or a 5% chance of succeeding. It's hard to climb this wall, but doable.
Now, compare this with the usual role-playing approach. The extremely hard wall (-8) corresponded to a -40% chance of success, giving the thief -13% chance of climbing the wall. Obviously, this makes no sense. How can you have a negative chance to climb a wall? The usual approach is to say that negative chances correspond to no chance at all, but the presence of negative chances indicates that something is wrong with the usual role-playing approach.
In the usual role-playing system, the thief has no chance to climb the hard wall until he reaches a 40% chance of climbing normal walls. Is there really such a difference between a thief with a 45% chance of climbing a wall, and one with a 35% chance? Probably not. As we saw above, NC avoids this whole problem.
First, the attacker rolls percentile dice. A low percentile roll represents a good attack. Likewise, a high roll represents a poor attack. In normal combat, a roll of 100 (00) always misses; a roll of 1 (01) always hits.
The percentile dice roll is compared to the attacker's chance to hit. The chance to hit is taken from the "to hit" table, also known as the chance level table. The appropriate entry in the table is selected using the difference between the attacker's OF and the defender's DF If OF - DF is less than zero, then the attacker has a less than 50% chance of hitting. If greater than zero, then the attacker has a greater than 50% chance. For many rolls, this rule of thumb can be used to quickly determine whether a hit was made, rather than having to consult the table. If the die roll is less than or equal to the number in the table, a successful hit has been made.
If a hit is successful, damage is rolled according to the usual role-playing methods. From the damage is subtracted the defender's AR. If any damage is left over, this damage is reduced according to the defender's DR versus this attack type. The minimum damage taken from an attack which hits is 1 hit point, regardless of the effects of armor or reduction. This damage represents the effects of fatigue.
A critical hit is a hit which is especially good, causing extra damage and possibly disabling the opponent. The chance of any particular hit being a critical hit is equal to one-tenth the chance that the hit will be successful, rounded down. For example, if a 5th level fighter (OF 5) attacks a lizardman (DF 2), she has a 65% chance of hitting. If she rolls an 06 or lower, the hit will be critical.
On a critical hit, the defender has a DR penalty of -4. If the actual damage taken is more than half of his remaining hit points, the hit is a disabling critical hit. Determination of the location of the hit and the degree of disabling is at this point up to the referee, since most referees have their own favorite "critical tables".
Many role-playing systems also include the concept of "fumbles". A fumble is a blow so poorly executed that something bad happens. NC does not include fumbles, on the grounds that they do not significantly enhance play.
Certain events which occur during the course of an adventure require that a roll be made to determine whether an effect is avoided. A magical fireball explodes around a mage. Does she manage to dive out of the way, or to resist its effect through sheer willpower? A pit opens up under a ranger. Does he manage to jump aside in time? This is the province of saving rolls.
Saving rolls are based on chance levels, like any event in the game. A character's basic saving chance level to avoid an effect is equal to half of his or her highest class level. Subtracted from this chance level is the difficulty of avoiding the effect. Typical effects will have chance levels ranging from 0 to 10, with 5 being a "typical" value. The chance level of the effect is referred to as its "severity". Improbable effects may be given negative severities.
"Generic" poison of the usual sort has a severity of 5. A first-level character has a basic saving chance level of 1, or a total saving chance level of -5 versus this poison. This corresponds to a 31% chance of avoiding the effects of the poison. A tenth-level character has a total saving chance level of 0, or a 50% chance of avoiding the effect.
Certain magic items will give an overall bonus to saving rolls, as well as some magic spells and divine favor. These bonuses are applied to the recipient's chance level.
Different kinds of effects which characters may want to avoid are classified into several categories. Characters will have bonuses and penalties to their chance levels in each of these categories, due to their ability scores, their race, and their class. Discussions of the major classes of effects follow, and are summarized in the appendices.
Poison The effects of poison are discussed later in this document, but its effects can often be resisted. Typical poisons have a severity ranging from 0 to 10, with a value of 5 being typical. Dwarven and halfling characters gain a bonus to their saving chance level versus poison of 1 per every 5 constitution points. Assassins and poisoners gain a +2 bonus, or higher if they have special resistance.
Magical Spells Magical spells have a base severity of 5, modified upward by 1 for every 5 levels of the caster. Mages and illusionists gain a +2 bonus versus spells they are familiar with, and for which a save is allowed. Clerics in good standing with their deity gain a +2 bonus versus spells of another religion.
Characters with high wisdom gain a bonus versus magic attack forms involving mental force: +1 per point over 14, or -1 per point under Clerics and paladins gain a +4 bonus versus death magic. Other characters have a +2 bonus versus death magic. All characters have a bonus of +3 versus spells which cause a change in the physical structure of the living victim, such as petrification and polymorph spells.
Breath Weapons This category includes dragon breath, and other similar effects. Typical severity of breath weapons is 6. Young dragons' breath will have severity 4; old dragons severity 8 or higher. Characters apply their dexterity reaction adjustment to their chance level.
Rods, Staves, Wands These magical devices generate effects which acts as spells of severity 7, 6, and 5 respectively.
Physical Traps Traps vary widely in deadliness. Typical traps have a severity of 5, though severities from -2 to 12 are common. Depending on the type of trap, characters may possibly apply either strength "to hit" bonuses or dexterity reaction adjustment bonuses to their saving chance level; which is applied may depend on how the player attempts to avoid the trap. When the trap is created, the referee should specify the nature of the trap, and relevant adjustments based on ability scores.
Converting monsters from other role-playing systems to NC is a delicate task. Basically, the following procedure should be followed. First, OF should be equal to the fighter level of the monster. AR should be estimated according to the type of covering the monster has. An AR value of 1-2 is typical; higher than 3 should be extremely rare. Creatures with higher AR values would include some dragons and creatures formed from stone.
Many monsters do not make a significant attempt to avoid taking damage. For these monsters, DR should be set equal to 0. Other monsters should have their number of hit dice reduced, because losing their large number of hit points will be compensated by the increase in DR. These creatures will typically be fairly agile and not larger than humans. In the case where DR is equal to 0, no damage reduction need be done, so that hit points can be handled by simply multiplying everything by 10. This technique is particularly convenient for the referee.
The DF of the creature will typically be fairly low, especially in the case of large or slow creatures. Values of about half the creature's hit dice can be considered typical.
Monster species do not have fixed hit points; rather, they have hit dice.
Note that the number of hit dice of the creature is not directly related
to combat ability.
In NC, hit dice are represented as a single number. For each
4 hit point pluses, an additional hit die should be added. For example,
a creature of 7+7 hit dice would be become a 9 hit die creature in NC,
although its OF should be around 7. For creatures with a significant
DR, hit dice should be reduced from the ordinary level, according to
the fraction of damage absorbed at their DR level.
Most AD&D spells do far too much damage. The huge increase in spell damage with level is usually an effect to compensate for the huge increase in hit points. Similarly, clerical healing spells are twisted by this effect. Dividing spell damage by 3 may be an appropriate initial approximation. For example, cure light wounds should cure 10-30 hit points of damage, making it useful for curing characters of all levels. Magic projectiles should do 20 points of damage.
More information on spells may be found in the NC Arcana.
The usual "save or die" poison can be replaced with poison which simply does damage, though this is optional. However, the damage done by poison is not reducible by normal damage reduction methods. That is, neither a character's BDR, nor any DR bonuses from armor, may be applied to the poison damage. Items such as rings of protection or other items specifically related to poison may confer some DR bonus. A weak poison may be cause 10-40 damage; a stronger poison 20-80 damage, and so on.
Poison does at most 10 points of damage per round. However, ordinary healing spells will be ineffective in repairing this damage until the poison is neutralized. Extremely toxic poisons, which are very slow-acting (perhaps 1 point of damage per 10 minutes, or even per day) may require multiple neutralizations, or very powerful clerical magic.
If a poisoned weapon's physical damage is completely absorbed by armor, it can be interpreted as a blow which was not strong enough to penetrate the armor. In this case, no poison damage is incurred.
As previously mentioned, NC does not dictate the method of combat scheduling, just as it does not dictate anything else. However, I will present a recommended scheduling system here.
Time is measured in segments. Each segment is about one second long. Ten segments is a round. Determining when a character performs an action is a very simple process, but it needs some explaining.
There are two basic modes that a character can be in: hand-to-hand combat or normal activity. A character is in hand-to-hand combat when s/he is defending against a weapon. When in hand-to-hand combat, a character's options are very limited, and actions other than attacking the opponent and attempting to move are very risky and slow. When not defending themselves, characters can perform actions at the maximum rate possible.
Notice that attacking a surprised opponent does not count as hand-to-hand combat, so attacks may be made at the maximum rate allowable by the weapon being used. Similarly, if an opponent attempts to do something which interferes with their own defense (e.g. switch weapons), they may be attacked during the duration of their action at the maximum rate. In addition, their defensive ability will be considerably lowered, usually by a -5 penalty to DF.
Characters not defending themselves may perform actions at the maximum rate. Each action requires a certain amount of time. A table of typical actions, with times, appears below. Some actions may be sped up or slowed, depending on attributes of the character such as Dexterity or Coordination. Movement will also require time, depending on the distance to be moved and the Speed of the character. For more information, see The NC Character System.
Attacking with dagger, sword, mace 1 segment Attacking with two-handed weapons 2 segments Sheathing a sword 6 segments Drawing a sword 2 segments Identifying a new projectile target 2 segments Firing an arrow 1 segment Drawing and nocking an arrow 4 segments Firing a crossbow 1 segment Loading a crossbow 19 segments Firing a handgun 1 segment Steadying a handgun 1 segment
When two characters are engaged in combat, they will each have a certain number of attacks per round, depending on the weapons they are using and their skill with these weapons. When these actions take place within the round is determined by rolling dice.
In the case where the character has one attack, it is simple to determine the segment in which the attack takes place. The player rolls the segment on a 10-sided die. If the character has a high dexterity, the dexterity reaction adjustment may be subtracted from the segment roll. Similarly, a very low dexterity will increase the segment roll.
When a character has two actions, the player rolls a six-sided die and a four-sided die. The value on the six-sided die is the segment of the first action, and the sum of the two dice is the segment of the second action performed. Again, these segments may be modified by dexterity reaction adjustment, where appropriate.
The segment can never be less than 1, and never greater than 10. If the segment is less than 1, all of the segment rolls should be increased by the same amount. A segment roll which is greater than 10, with adjustment, results in the attack not occurring. A character cannot perform two attacks in the same segment.
For three actions, three four-sided dice are rolled. The first die determines the first segment. The sum of the first two dice determines the second segment. The sum of all three dice determines the third segment.
For four actions, the easiest method is to schedule the actions in segments 2,4,7, and 9. For five actions, in 1,3,5,7, and 9. And so on. When actions occur in the same segment, they are considered to be simultaneous. For example, it is possible for two combatants to kill each other in the same segment.
When two characters first engage in combat, they will often do so in the middle of a round. In this case, each combatant gains an initial attack at the segment of engagement. Subsequent attacks wait until the next round, and are handled in the usual way described above.
Projectile weapons have a typical firing rate, which is measured in terms of the number of segments required between firings of the weapon. For example, the firing rate of a long bow is 5 segments.
Spellcasters who have material components ready for their spell may cast a spell immediately. However, if they are struck by a weapon during the casting of the spell, the spell may be disrupted and possibly even backfire in some way. Note that while the spell is being cast, the spellcaster suffers severe defensive penalties, as described elsewhere in these rules.
DeathBow is equipped with +1 leather armor, a special longbow made for his exceptional strength of 18.25, and a +2 bastard sword. He is specialized in the longbow. He has a 17 constitution and a 16 dexterity.
First of all, let's work out his hit points. Since he's a half-elf, he has 60 base hit points. For being 6th level, he gets 12 more hit points. DeathBow has a 17 constitution, which gives him 30 hit points more. His total hit points (HP) are 102.
DeathBow's Armor Value AR is easy to compute. He gets 0 AR for having the soft skin of a half-elf. Looking at the Armor Chart, we see that leather armor gives no AR bonus. His AR is 0.
Now let's consider DeathBow's offense (OF) and defense (DF). He is a fighter type, so he gets 6 OF for being a 6th level ranger. When fighting with his bastard sword, he gets a +1 OF bonus for his 18.25 strength, and a +2 bonus because it's a magic weapon. His total OF is 9. With his longbow, he gets a +1 OF bonus for having a 16 dexterity, because the longbow is a projectile weapon. Also, he is specialized in the longbow, giving him another +1 OF. However, the longbow is a difficult weapon to use, and has an OF penalty of -4. His total OF is 5 with the longbow.
DeathBow has a base defense of 6, because he's equivalent to a 6th level fighter. He gets a bonus of +2 DF for his 16 dexterity, but a -1 DF for his leather armor. His total DF is 7.
The toughest statistic to calculate is Damage Reduction DR. Let's tackle this. One part of DR is the Base Damage Reduction (BDR). DeathBow gets 6 points of BDR for being 6th level. From the "BDR and DR adjustments" table we see that rangers get a +3 BDR class-based bonus. His total Base Damage Reduction is 9. DeathBow also gets a bonus to his DR from his armor of +2 (+1 for leather armor, +1 magical bonus). His total DR is equal to his BDR plus any item-based (e.g. armor) bonuses. In this case, he has a total DR of 11.
DeathBow's Damage Reduction versus magical spells is slightly different.
The class-based BDR bonus for rangers against magical damage is +1.
His armor also applies. His magical DR is (6 + 2 + 1) = 9.
Irthea is equipped with bracelets of defense (+4 DF, +2 DR) and a staff of excellent pummeling (+2 OF, 20-120 damage). She is not wearing any armor. She has a 10 constitution, an 18 dexterity and a 7 strength.
Irthea gets 60 hit points for being human, and 12 more for being 6th level. Her constitution is unexceptional, so her total hit points are 72. She has no armor, so her AR is 0.
From the Fighter Level Table, we see that Irthea's fighter level is only 2, since she is a 6th-level mage. Her OF is enhanced by 2 when using the staff of pummeling, giving her a total OF of 4.
Similarly, Irthea gets 2 DF for being a 6th-level mage, plus a bonus of +4 for her exceptional dexterity. In addition, her bracelets of defense give her another +4. Her total DF is an impressive 10.
Irthea has 6 BDR for being 6th level. As a mage, she receives no class-based bonus to BDR. Her bracelets give her an additional +2 bonus, so her total DR is 8.
For this sample combat, we'll use a simple scheduling system in which
the combatants alternate actions. The combatants start out 50 feet
apart, in rocky terrain.
Round 1:
The combatants spot each other.
DeathBow fires his ready longbow. He has an OF of 4. Since he is using a projectile weapon, Irthea can only apply a certain amount of her DF to avoiding this attack. Consulting the projectile weapon table, we see that her maximum DF is 4. However, her magical bracelets are applicable in this situation, so her DF goes up to 8. as 8. In the rocky terrain, she has 25% cover, so she gains an additional +2 DF. Unfortunately, Irthea is casting a spell, giving her a -5 DF penalty. Computing OF-DF in this situation, we see that DeathBow has a (5-5) = 0 chance level of hitting, or a 50% chance.
DeathBow gets two shots in this round. For his first shot, he rolls a 41, a hit. For his second shot, he rolls an 87; a miss.
Irthea is hit by the first arrow. Longbow arrows ordinarily cause 10-100 points of damage. DeathBow's longbow is specially made for his strength, and so has an additional damage bonus of +30. DeathBow rolls low damage: 50 points.
Since Irthea is casting a spell, she incurs a -5 DR penalty. In addition, she was struck by a projectile weapon, which means that she can only use part of her BDR in reducing the damage. Since the weapon was a longbow, the maximum BDR was 4, the same as the maximum DF from above. She still gets her bonus from the bracelets of +2 DR. Her total DR is (4 - 5 + 2) = 1. Consulting the DR table, we see that 50 damage reduced by 1 DR is 45 points. Irthea is down to (72 - 45) = 27 HP.
Irthea is casting a lightning bolt spell. Since she was hit by an arrow while casting the spell, her spellcasting has a chance of failing. This is a severity 5 effect. Her base saving chance level is half her level or 3. Her saving chance level is (3 - 5) = -2, or a 40% chance. She rolls a 31, and succeeds in casting her spell.
Irthea is casting a lightning bolt spell. This spell causes 100 points of damage. DeathBow does have a chance to save, however. His basic saving chance level is equal to half his level, or 3. Because he's a fighter, he gets no bonuses. The spell is a severity 6 effect, because magic spells start at severity 5 and go up 1 for every 5 levels of the caster. DeathBow has a (3-6) or -3 chance level of saving, or a 35% chance.
DeathBow rolls a 43, and is hit by the lightning bolt. Ouch! He takes
100 points of damage. However, he gets a chance to reduce this damage.
His magical DR is 9. Consulting the DR table, we see that
he actually takes only 39 points of damage, bringing him to 63 HP.
.ti -0.5i
Round 2:
Neither combatant is particularly happy about the results of the previous
round, and they dodge behind the boulders.
DeathBow changes to his bastard sword. Irthea casts a Misty Veil, which
obscures her form and gives her an additional +2 DF. Her total DF
is now 12.
.ti -0.5i
Round 3:
Irthea and DeathBow attempt to sneak up on each other. Because of her Misty Veil, Irthea is more successful. She strikes first with her staff.
Irthea has an OF of 4 when using the staff. DeathBow has a DF of 7. Her chance level to hit is -3 or a 35% chance to hit. She rolls a 76 and misses.
DeathBow has an excellent OF of 9 with the bastard sword. However, Irthea has raised her DF to 12. DeathBow's chance level to hit is also -3, or 35%.
DeathBow is lucky today. He rolls an 03. Since his chance to hit is more than 10 times his roll, he gets a critical hit. He rolls his damage. A bastard sword does 10-100 damage, plus his strength bonus of 30 points, plus the magical bonus of 20. He rolls 70 points of damage.
Irthea can now reduce this damage. However, since the hit was critical, she has a -4 penalty to DR. Her DR is (8 - 4) = 4. Reducing 70 damage against 4 DR, we see that she takes 46 points of damage, bringing her to (46 - 27) = -19 hit points.
This hit was more than half of her remaining hit points, so the hit was disabling as well. Using a standard critical hit table, Irthea's wound is classified as a deep wound to the side, destroying one of her kidneys.
Irthea has less than -10 hit points, and lapses into unconsciousness. Given the nature of her wound, it will probably be 10-20 rounds before she dies. DeathBow has the option of attempting to save her life. We'll now leave this exciting tableau.
OF Offensive level (fighter level + bonuses; used for to-hit chance) DF Defensive level (fighter level + bonuses; used for to-be-hit chance) AR Armor (usually ranges 0-40; subtracted from damage before DR) DR Damage Reduction level (BDR + bonuses; scales damage down) BDR Base DR. (Character's level, with some adjustments) MHP Maximum Hit Points CHP Current Hit Points
Armor type DF DR AR None -0 +0 +0 Leather -1 +1 +0 Studded -2 +1 +10 Ring -1 +1 +10 Scale -2 +2 +10 Chain -1 +2 +20 Elven Chain -0 +2 +20 Banded -2 +3 +20 Splinted -3 +3 +30 Plate Mail -3 +4 +30 Field Plate -4 +5 +40
Humans 60 Elves 50 Half-Elves 60 Dwarves 60 Gnomes 50 Halflings 40 Half-Orcs 70 Half-Trolls 90 Orcs 60
Blinded -4 17 Strength +1 18 Strength +2 19 Strength +3 20 Strength +4
Unarmed vs. armed -4 Shield +1 Blinded -2 Stunned -2 Prone -2 Invisible +3 (Unless opponent is blind) Casting spell -5
Weapon OF Penalty BDR,DF Max longbow -4 4 throwing knife -4 10 crossbow -2 3 sling -3 8 spear, javelin -2 10 handgun -1 1 "Tech" ? 1 Condition DF bonus 25% cover +2 50% cover +5 75% cover +8 90% cover +10 target 1.5' tall +12 target 3' tall +6 target 6' tall +0 target 9' tall -3 target 12' tall -6 target 18' tall -12 25% concealed +1 50% concealed +2 90% concealed +4 short range +0 medium range +2 long range +5 perpendicular movement +2
BDR Fighter +3 Cleric +2 Monk, Thief +1 Mage +0 Illusionist +0 Barbarian +4 Ranger, Paladin +3 DR Casting Spell -5 Asleep BDR=0 Stunned -1 Prone -1 Blind -1
BDR Fighter +0 Cleric +1 (+3, vs. opposing sect) Thief +0 Mage +2 (+4 vs. known spell) Illusionist +2 (+4 vs. known spell) Barbarian +0 Ranger, Paladin +1 Assassin +0 Monk +1 Dwarf, Halfling +2 DR Asleep -5 Stunned -1 Prone +0 Blind +0
vs. Poison (Typical severity 5)
Dwarf, Halfling +1/5 points constitution
Assassin, Poisoner +2 or special
vs. Magic Spells (Typical severity 5+(caster level)/5)
Mage, Illusionist vs. familiar spell +2
Cleric vs. Opposing Clerical spell +2
High Wisdom vs. Mental effect spell 14=+1,15=+1,16=+2,17=+3,18=+4
Low Wisdom vs Mental effect spell 7=-1,6=-1,5=-1,4=-2,3=-3
Religious characters vs. death magic +4
Other characters vs. death magic +2
Polymorph, petrification spells +3
vs. Breath Weapons (Typical Severity 6)
High dexterity 16=+1,17=+2,18=+3,19=+3,20=+3
Low dexterity 6=-1,5=-2,4=-3,3=-4
vs. Rod, Staves, Wands (Typical Severity 7,6,5)
Same as magic spells.
vs. Traps (Typical Severity 4)
Depending on trap Strength "to hit" modifier.
Depending on trap Dexterity adjustment,
as breath weapons.
Fighter Cleric Thief Mage Monster
0 1-2 1-3 <1/2
1 1-2 3-4 4-5 1/2
2 3 5-6 6-7 1
3 4-5 7 8-9
4 6 8-9 10 2
5 7-8 10 11-12 3
6 9 11-12 13-14 4
7 10-11 13-14 15-16 5
8 12 15-16 17-18 6-7
9 13-14 17-18 19-20 8
10 15 19-20 21+ 9
11 16-18 21+ 10-11
12 19+ 12-13
13 14-15
14 16+
15
16
17
DR->0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D 10= 10 9 8 7 7 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
a 20= 20 18 16 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
m 30= 30 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 13 12 10 9 8 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1
a 40= 40 36 32 29 26 24 21 19 17 15 14 13 11 10 9 8 7 7 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2
g 50= 50 45 41 36 33 30 27 24 22 19 17 16 14 13 11 10 9 8 8 7 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2
e -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 60= 60 54 49 44 39 35 32 29 26 23 21 19 17 15 14 12 11 10 9 8 7 7 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3
V 70= 70 63 57 51 46 41 37 33 30 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 13 12 11 9 9 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3
80= 80 72 65 58 52 47 43 38 34 31 28 25 23 20 18 16 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 4
90= 90 81 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 31 28 25 23 21 19 17 15 14 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 6 5 5 4
100= 100 90 81 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 31 28 25 23 21 19 17 15 14 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 6 5 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
110= 110 99 89 80 72 65 58 53 47 43 38 35 31 28 25 23 20 18 17 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 6 5
120= 120 108 97 87 79 71 64 57 52 46 42 38 34 31 27 25 22 20 18 16 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 6
130= 130 117 105 95 85 77 69 62 56 50 45 41 37 33 30 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 13 12 10 9 8 8 7 6
140= 140 126 113 102 92 83 74 67 60 54 49 44 40 36 32 29 26 23 21 19 17 15 14 12 11 10 9 8 7 7
150= 150 135 122 109 98 89 80 72 65 58 52 47 42 38 34 31 28 25 23 20 18 16 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
160= 160 144 130 117 105 94 85 77 69 62 56 50 45 41 37 33 30 27 24 22 19 18 16 14 13 11 10 9 8 8
170= 170 153 138 124 112 100 90 81 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 32 28 26 23 21 19 17 15 14 12 11 10 9 8
180= 180 162 146 131 118 106 96 86 77 70 63 56 51 46 41 37 33 30 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 13 12 10 9 8
190= 190 171 154 139 125 112 101 91 82 74 66 60 54 48 43 39 35 32 29 26 23 21 19 17 15 14 12 11 10 9
200= 200 180 162 146 131 118 106 96 86 77 70 63 56 51 46 41 37 33 30 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 13 12 10 9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
210= 210 189 170 153 138 124 112 100 90 81 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 32 28 26 23 21 19 17 15 14 12 11 10
220= 220 198 178 160 144 130 117 105 95 85 77 69 62 56 50 45 41 37 33 30 27 24 22 19 18 16 14 13 12 10
230= 230 207 186 168 151 136 122 110 99 89 80 72 65 58 53 47 43 38 35 31 28 25 23 20 18 17 15 13 12 11
240= 240 216 194 175 157 142 128 115 103 93 84 75 68 61 55 49 44 40 36 32 29 26 24 21 19 17 16 14 13 11
250= 250 225 203 182 164 148 133 120 108 97 87 78 71 64 57 51 46 42 38 34 30 27 25 22 20 18 16 15 13 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
260= 260 234 211 190 171 154 138 124 112 101 91 82 73 66 59 54 48 43 39 35 32 28 26 23 21 19 17 15 14 12
270= 270 243 219 197 177 159 143 129 116 105 94 85 76 69 62 56 50 45 41 36 33 30 27 24 22 19 17 16 14 13
280= 280 252 227 204 184 165 149 134 121 108 98 88 79 71 64 58 52 47 42 38 34 31 28 25 22 20 18 16 15 13
290= 290 261 235 211 190 171 154 139 125 112 101 91 82 74 66 60 54 48 44 39 35 32 29 26 23 21 19 17 15 14
300= 300 270 243 219 197 177 159 143 129 116 105 94 85 76 69 62 56 50 45 41 36 33 30 27 24 22 19 17 16 14
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
310= 310 279 251 226 203 183 165 148 133 120 108 97 88 79 71 64 57 52 47 42 38 34 31 27 25 22 20 18 16 15
320= 320 288 259 233 210 189 170 153 138 124 112 100 90 81 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 32 28 26 23 21 19 17 15
330= 330 297 267 241 217 195 175 158 142 128 115 104 93 84 75 68 61 55 50 45 40 36 32 29 26 24 21 19 17 16
340= 340 306 275 248 223 201 181 163 146 132 119 107 96 86 78 70 63 57 51 46 41 37 33 30 27 24 22 20 18 16
350= 350 315 284 255 230 207 186 167 151 136 122 110 99 89 80 72 65 58 53 47 43 38 34 31 28 25 23 20 18 16
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
360= 360 324 292 262 236 213 191 172 155 139 126 113 102 92 82 74 67 60 54 49 44 39 35 32 29 26 23 21 19 17
370= 370 333 300 270 243 218 197 177 159 143 129 116 104 94 85 76 69 62 56 50 45 40 36 33 30 27 24 22 19 17
380= 380 342 308 277 249 224 202 182 164 147 132 119 107 97 87 78 70 63 57 51 46 42 37 34 30 27 25 22 20 18
390= 390 351 316 284 256 230 207 187 168 151 136 122 110 99 89 80 72 65 59 53 47 43 38 35 31 28 25 23 20 18
400= 400 360 324 292 262 236 213 191 172 155 139 126 113 102 92 82 74 67 60 54 49 44 39 35 32 29 26 23 21 19
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
410= 410 369 332 299 269 242 218 196 176 159 143 129 116 104 94 84 76 68 62 55 50 45 40 36 33 29 26 24 21 19
420= 420 378 340 306 276 248 223 201 181 163 146 132 119 107 96 86 78 70 63 57 51 46 41 37 34 30 27 24 22 20
430= 430 387 348 313 282 254 229 206 185 167 150 135 121 109 98 89 80 72 65 58 52 47 42 38 34 31 28 25 23 20
440= 440 396 356 321 289 260 234 210 189 170 153 138 124 112 101 91 82 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 32 28 26 23 21
450= 450 405 365 328 295 266 239 215 194 174 157 141 127 114 103 93 83 75 68 61 55 49 44 40 36 32 29 26 24 21
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
460= 460 414 373 335 302 272 244 220 198 178 160 144 130 117 105 95 85 77 69 62 56 50 45 41 37 33 30 27 24 22
470= 470 423 381 343 308 278 250 225 202 182 164 147 133 119 108 97 87 78 71 63 57 51 46 42 37 34 30 27 25 22
480= 480 432 389 350 315 283 255 230 207 186 167 151 136 122 110 99 89 80 72 65 58 53 47 43 38 34 31 28 25 23
490= 490 441 397 357 321 289 260 234 211 190 171 154 138 125 112 101 91 82 74 66 60 54 48 43 39 35 32 28 26 23
500= 500 450 405 365 328 295 266 239 215 194 174 157 141 127 114 103 93 83 75 68 61 55 49 44 40 36 32 29 26 24
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
510= 510 459 413 372 335 301 271 244 220 198 178 160 144 130 117 105 95 85 77 69 62 56 50 45 41 37 33 30 27 24
520= 520 468 421 379 341 307 276 249 224 201 181 163 147 132 119 107 96 87 78 70 63 57 51 46 41 37 34 30 27 24
530= 530 477 429 386 348 313 282 253 228 205 185 166 150 135 121 109 98 88 80 72 64 58 52 47 42 38 34 31 28 25
540= 540 486 437 394 354 319 287 258 232 209 188 169 153 137 124 111 100 90 81 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 31 28 25
550= 550 495 446 401 361 325 292 263 237 213 192 173 155 140 126 113 102 92 83 74 67 60 54 49 44 39 36 32 29 26
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
560= 560 504 454 408 367 331 298 268 241 217 195 176 158 142 128 115 104 93 84 76 68 61 55 50 45 40 36 33 29 26
570= 570 513 462 416 374 337 303 273 245 221 199 179 161 145 130 117 106 95 86 77 69 62 56 51 45 41 37 33 30 27
580= 580 522 470 423 381 342 308 277 250 225 202 182 164 147 133 119 107 97 87 78 71 63 57 51 46 42 37 34 30 27
590= 590 531 478 430 387 348 314 282 254 229 206 185 167 150 135 121 109 98 89 80 72 65 58 52 47 42 38 34 31 28
600= 600 540 486 437 394 354 319 287 258 232 209 188 169 153 137 124 111 100 90 81 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 31 28
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR->0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D 10= 10 9 8 7 7 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1
a 20= 20 18 16 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 2
m 30= 30 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 13 12 10 9 8 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 4
a 40= 40 36 32 29 26 24 21 19 17 15 14 13 11 10 9 8 7 7 6 5 5
g 50= 50 45 41 36 33 30 27 24 22 19 17 16 14 13 11 10 9 8 8 7 6
e -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 60= 60 54 49 44 39 35 32 29 26 23 21 19 17 15 14 12 11 10 9 8 7
V 70= 70 63 57 51 46 41 37 33 30 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 13 12 11 9 9
80= 80 72 65 58 52 47 43 38 34 31 28 25 23 20 18 16 15 13 12 11 10
90= 90 81 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 31 28 25 23 21 19 17 15 14 12 11
100= 100 90 81 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 31 28 25 23 21 19 17 15 14 12
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
110= 110 99 89 80 72 65 58 53 47 43 38 35 31 28 25 23 20 18 17 15 13
120= 120 108 97 87 79 71 64 57 52 46 42 38 34 31 27 25 22 20 18 16 15
130= 130 117 105 95 85 77 69 62 56 50 45 41 37 33 30 27 24 22 20 18 16
140= 140 126 113 102 92 83 74 67 60 54 49 44 40 36 32 29 26 23 21 19 17
150= 150 135 122 109 98 89 80 72 65 58 52 47 42 38 34 31 28 25 23 20 18
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
160= 160 144 130 117 105 94 85 77 69 62 56 50 45 41 37 33 30 27 24 22 19
170= 170 153 138 124 112 100 90 81 73 66 59 53 48 43 39 35 32 28 26 23 21
180= 180 162 146 131 118 106 96 86 77 70 63 56 51 46 41 37 33 30 27 24 22
190= 190 171 154 139 125 112 101 91 82 74 66 60 54 48 43 39 35 32 29 26 23
200= 200 180 162 146 131 118 106 96 86 77 70 63 56 51 46 41 37 33 30 27 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C R C R C R C R
-20 01 -10 10 0 50 10 90
-19 01 -9 13 1 55 11 92
-18 01 -8 16 2 60 12 94
-17 02 -7 19 3 65 13 95
-16 02 -6 23 4 69 14 96
-15 03 -5 27 5 73 15 97
-14 04 -4 31 6 77 16 98
-13 05 -3 35 7 81 17 98
-12 06 -2 40 8 84 18 99
-11 08 -1 45 9 87 19 99
20 99