All about bows (in 2e)

I’ve really had a few things mixed up regarding bows over the years. The intention has always been to adjudicate missile fire “by the book,” so I’ll begin honoring these immediately:

• Only longbows can fire sheaf arrows; short bows are limited to using flight arrows. (Note that this was already previously discussed here.)
  
• Longbows and short bows can be strung for a “heavier pull” to allow characters with high Strength scores to apply their modifiers to attack and damage rolls; these bows don’t cost more than normal bows unless they intend to enable bonuses for exceptional Strength (18/01 and higher).
• Composite bows work the same as regular bows in terms of pull; what’s different is their design, range, and speed factor.
• There’s no penalty to hit when firing into melee; possible recipients (including allies) are prorated with respect to size and the target is determined randomly (the attack roll still needs to be high enough to hit the target’s AC).

For those wanting to read the relevant passages, review the following sections in the 2e PH:

• Bows (Equipment chapter, p. 73)
• Modifiers to the Attack Roll (Combat chapter, p. 90)
• Ability Modifiers in Missile Combat (Combat chapter, p. 99)
• Firing into a Melee (Combat chapter, p. 99)

AD&D 2e combat

It feels high time to get a revision of this post up to overview how combat works in our AD&D 2e campaign. Here are the key points/rules I want to highlight:

• Surprise. Determined by rolling 1d10 for each side (as deemed necessary by the DM) at the start of an encounter; a result of 1-3 means that each opponent gets to make a free round of attacks (using melee weapons, missile weapons, or magic items, but not spells) against the surprised party. Various modifiers can be applied, for example a +2 bonus to account for a cat familiar’s keen senses around a camp at night.
• Initiative. Determined by rolling 1d10 for each side at the start of each combat round. Lower roll wins, with the results indicating the count on which each side will begin its actions during the round.
• Melee and missile attacks occur on the initiative count. Combatants with multiple weapon attacks (e.g., missile weapons with a high ROF and Fighters with weapon specialization) take any subsequent attacks at the end of the round; monsters with multiple natural attacks (such as claw/claw/bite) and PCs/NPCs with two-weapon fighting make all of their attacks immediately. (Note that, if we used weapon speed, the speed factor would be added to the initiative count for each combatant.)
• Movement and charge attacks begin on the initiative count and consume a number of “segments” necessary to complete the associated movement.
• Spellcasting begins on the initiative count and completes after a number of segments equal to the spell’s casting time. If the caster is damaged while the spell is in the process of being cast, the caster’s concentration is lost and the spell is thwarted.
• Other single-round combat actions include turning undead, lightning a torch, drinking a potion, binding wounds, etc. (also see the 2e PH, p 93).

Other/special combat actions and modifiers:

• Attacking from higher ground grants a -1 bonus to initiative and a +1 bonus to attack rolls.
• Charging allows an attacker to increase his or her movement by 50% and make a single attack against an opponent at +2 to hit. In return, the defender gains a -2 bonus to initiative and the attacker suffers a -1 penalty to armor class in addition to losing his or her Dexterity bonus to AC for the round.
• A critical hit occurs when a combatant rolls a “natural” 20 on an attack roll. In these cases, maximum damage is awarded without rolling.
• Firing into melee results in a -4 penalty to attack rolls to account for the difficulty of avoiding one’s allies. (Note that this is not, in fact, “by the book” for 2e. Per the PH, p. 99, ranged combatants firing into melee do not take a penalty, however targets are chosen at random and being hit by friendly fire is possible. This rule probably warrants further discussion.) This post provides details on how firing into a melee actually works.
• Melee combatants may select specific targets for their attacks when the ability to distinguish one opponent from all others is practical (this is up to the DM’s discretion). When it’s not, the opponent being attacked is determined at random. 
• Withdrawing allows a combatant to disengage from melee at 1/3 speed. Fleeing allows the combatant to run from melee at full speed but draws a free attack from each engaged opponent. (In either case, the combatant exiting the melee may be pursued, unless each pursuer is explicitly blocked off by an ally.)
• Invisible opponents can be attacked with a -4 penalty to hit, as long as the attacker is aware of the opponent.
• Prone opponents can be attacked with a +4 bonus to hit. Only sleeping, held, or fully immobilized opponents can be slain automatically.
• Cover and concealment make it more difficult to hit an opponent with missile fire. Cover (or “hard cover”) means that an obstacle (like a wall or boulder) is blocking the intended target; concealment (“soft cover”) means that the target is obscured by entities (such as fog or foliage) that hide the intended target. (See the 2e PH, p. 99 for details and modifiers.)
• A called shot may be made against a target in an attempt to achieve a specific result, such as forcing an opponent to drop an item. Called shots are made with a -4 penalty to hit, and a +1 penalty to initiative.

In closing, while the above points cover the majority of combat situations in our games, I highly recommend that each player read the full “Combat” chapter in the 2e PH (pp. 89-106) prior to our next session.

Combat in 1e/OSRIC

This post is a reference for how I currently run combat. AD&D/OSRIC leaves a decent amount of room for interpretation when it comes to intricacies, and that's by design. I try to stick to "by the book" rulings as much as possible, but I know my personal style for running combat changes and evolves over time. I started putting this together after the last time we played, but I'm posting it now to help prepare for this week's game.

It's important to note that a lot of this tends to go out the window mid-session, especially when trying to keep everything exciting and fluid. That said, it's never bad to have a quick reference to defer to when needed.

(Much of the below is sourced from OSRIC. Anything that's not is generally my own.)


Combat Basics

• A combat round is one minute. A "segment" is six seconds. There are ten segments in a round.
  
• At the start of combat, each side with a chance to be surprised (i.e., unaware of the opposing party) rolls a d6.
• 1 = surprised for 1 segment
• 2 = surprised for 2 segments
• 3-6 = not surprised
• A character with high Dexterity (16+) gets a "Surprise Bonus" which negates that many surprise segments for that character only.
  
• If there are any segments where one side is surprised but the other is not, the unsurprised party may act during those segments. This includes:
• Movement (limited to the character's movement rate / the number of surprise segments)
• Making a melee attack
• Making a charge attack (limited to the character's movement rate / the number of surprise segments * 2)
• Making a single missile attack (i.e., a single arrow, etc.) if in range
• Attempting to turn undead
• Casting a spell (only if the spell's casting time is equal to or less than the number of surprise segments)
  
• Once surprise segments are handled, each PC declares actions for the first round, then each side rolls d6 for initiative. The result is the segment on which the opposing side may act (therefore higher is better).
  
• Each character's action occurs on his or her party's initiative segment (i.e. the opposing party's die result).
• Melee attacks occur on the initiative segment.
• Missile attacks normally occur on the initiative segment, however characters with a "Missile Bonus to Hit" (Dex 16+) apply this bonus to their initiative count in addition to their attack rolls.
• A charge begins on the initiative segment, but consumes enough segments to cover the full charge distance (at 2x normal speed) before the actual attack occurs.
• Spellcasting begins on a character's initiative segment and consumes a number of segments equal to the spell's casting time (during which time the spell can be disrupted and foiled).
• Movement is otherwise considered to be ongoing and fluid throughout the round. Determining a character's exact location on a specific segment is left to the DM's discretion.
  
• After all sides have acted, if the combat is still ongoing, a new round is started with new initiative rolls by each side.

Combat Actions

Attacking into Melee: If an attacker has multiple adjacent opponents, the target is determined randomly. The same applies when attacking at range against "engaged" opponents (in these cases, the attacker can elect to take a -4 penalty to hit in order to try to hit a specific target).

Charge: A charging character gains +2 to hit, but if the defender's weapon is longer than the attacker's, the defender can attack first. A character can only "charge" once/10 rounds.

Fleeing: Fleeing characters immediately draw an additional attack from adjacent opponents at +4 to hit.

Parrying: A character who parries cannot attack, but may subtract his or her "to hit" bonus from his or her opponent's attack roll.

Invisible Opponent: An invisible opponent can only be attacked if the general location is known, and the attack is at –4 to hit.

Prone Opponent: Attacks against a prone opponent negate the benefit of a shield, negate dexterity bonuses, and are made at +4 to hit.

Concealment: Concealment is anything that obscures an opponent’s vision, such as tree limbs or smoke, but does not physically block incoming attacks. The GM must decide whether the defender is about a quarter (-1 to AC), half (-2 to AC), three-quarters (-3 to AC), or nine-tenths (-4 to AC) concealed.

Cover: Cover is protection behind something that can actually block incoming attacks, such as a wall or arrow slit. Cover bonuses are as follows:

• 25% cover: -2 AC
• 50% cover: -4 AC
• 75% cover: -7 AC
• 90% cover -10 AC

Things to remember in combat

These are as much for my own benefit as anyone else's...

Surprise (d6): 1 = surprised for one segment; 2 = surprised for two segments; 3-6 = not surprised. Dexterity can negate surprise segments for individual characters.

Attacking into Melee: If an attacker has multiple adjacent opponents, the target is determined randomly. The same applies when attacking at range against "engaged" opponents.

Charge: A charging character gains +2 to hit, but if the defender's weapon is longer than the attacker's, the defender can attack first. A character can only "charge" once/10 rounds.

Fleeing: Fleeing characters immediately draw an additional attack from adjacent opponents at +4 to hit.

Parrying: A character who parries cannot attack, but may subtract his or her "to hit" bonus from his or her opponent's attack roll.

Invisible Opponent: An invisible opponent can only be attacked if the general location is known, and the attack is at –4 to hit.

Prone Opponent: Attacks against a prone opponent negate the benefit of a shield, negate dexterity bonuses, and are made at +4 to hit.

Concealment: Concealment is anything that obscures an opponent’s vision, such as tree limbs or smoke, but does not physically block incoming attacks. The GM must decide whether the defender is about a quarter (-1 to AC), half (-2 to AC), three-quarters (-3 to AC), or nine-tenths (-4 to AC) concealed.

Cover: Cover is protection behind something that can actually block incoming attacks, such as a wall or arrow slit. Cover bonuses are as follows:

• 25% cover: -2 AC
• 50% cover: -4 AC
• 75% cover: -7 AC
• 90% cover -10 AC