Faster, easier combat :)

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Hi, just want to share an experiment we did last session. All the magi was caught just outside the village of Carnac in Brittany, at night, and the Nain appeared from the standing stones. These corrupted faeries lured some of the magi into an ambush, but since they're dancing powers could not breach the characters' parma magica, a physical fight ensued.

In this fight I used group combat for the Nain (three in each group), but they were many. To make my job as a storyguide easier, we tried another way of handling the combat totals. For all of the NPCs, add 6 to Initiative, Attack and Defense instead of the stress die. This removes some of the variables in combat, but overall, it's worth it. The fight went smoothly, and I didn't even roll a single die myself. Instead, when a character was attacked, he would roll for Defense against a static Ease Factor (6 + the Nain's attack value). Wound penalties the Nains suffered instead became bonuses to attack, defense and initiative rolls for the players.

So, this is technically the same system, but I think it runs smoother and much faster, and the players really like getting the bonuses when they attack or defend, or even try to beat the initiative of a wounded enemy.

So, would anyone else consider running combat like this, or am I missing something very important in the rules here? :slight_smile:

Eirik

2

I might, if pace was important to the combat and it was not the climax of an adventure.

But then, I do find the combat system rather slow and complicated at times...

3

I think it's a good way to deal with combat. Though the luck factor when using two dice can add extra tension.

So IMO both systems work fine, depending on the required climax and the importance of the fight.

4

Yes, for more important foes, both would roll a die. Although I'm testing out an extended combat system in my campaign with some new ideas I've come up with. For example, in group combat, both groups use 6 instead of a stress die, but tactics play a much bigger role, so the leader gets to use his Leadership score in a bigger way.

Also, I'm doing rules for bigger scale combats. Not quite the scale from Ordo Nobilis, but where each "captain" has a "group" of several hundred soldiers. Still working on it though. :slight_smile:

:slight_smile: