Improving Theater of the Mind Combat

Some ideas to make it better!

In my last post I talked about theater of the mind combat and combat in general in OSR games. You can find it here.

In it I talked about how I find players don’t engage with combat options much and the reasons why. I also talked about how classic D&D combat rules were kind of invented first to play with miniatures, and then kind of ported over or used for theater of the mind combat. This has kind of created a poor fit and my experience playing theater of the mind combat over many years as kind of let to the following assumptions I have about it:

1. Don’t have the players face off against more than enemies twice their number. It’ll be too much cognitive load. Fights are most fun when their either one big monster with special attacks, or several small ones with a basic attack, but not more in number than twice the player count.

2. Everything is happening in two dimensions: everything happens in two dimensions. Either kind of along a forward/backwards axis or a higher/lower axis. Stick to one axis.

3. Maybe have one hazard or environmental obstacle for everyone to imagine. With the lack of easily visible set spatial dimensions it becomes very hard to imagine things and consider multiple things.

4. The combat gap is the only space that matters. That is the gap between you and the monster; who has closed the gap to melee and who hasn’t.

5. Players will most likely focus attacks on a single monster. Because HP is kind of binary (as long as you have a single health point, you’re attacking at full strength), and because players have incomplete information on the status’ of monsters, it’s better to focus attacks on a single monster, kill it as quickly as possible, so it can no longer damage you, and then move onto the next monster.

With these assumptions, before I think up and blog about some rules, I’d first like to kind of describe how I want combat to feel. As ultimately, I want to create rules that help portray combat in a certain way and create a certain feeling.

How OSR Combat Feels

I kind of imagine OSR combat feeling a bit different depending on level. In the lower levels, like 1-3, I imagine it being very chaotic. Almost humorously so. The characters are somewhat panicked, unsure of how much damage they’ll be able to do, reacting to what is happening around them, and kind of transiting from a non-combat situation to a combat one almost haphazardly.

Once they gain a few more levels, like levels 4-7, they’re a bit more skilled and coordinated. The martial classes are out in front attacking, the non-martial classes trying to stay out of direct combat, and while it’s still kind of chaotic, there is a greater sense of competency. The best example I have for this would be that one fight cave troll fight in Balin’s Tomb in LOTR.

Once they reach the highest levels, 8-10, they’ve kind of mastered their individual skills and have come together to really fight as a team. They have their various opening strategies and moves and know what each other is capable of and can work together to address obstacles in combat. I don’t really have an example for this. In some ways I find most media kind of portrays the opposite of this.

In most RPG or fantasy media it often shows each individual high level hero in some stylistic pose facing off against a different enemy even though they’re all in the same room. The fighter cleaving through enemies, the mage unleashing a lightning bolt, the thief back stabbing someone, etc.

Overall, in OSR combat I don’t want characters to feel more powerful in combat because they gain more flashy combat abilities or powers and can output more raw damage. I want them to feel more powerful because the players are better at working together.

Rule Ideas

Okay, so I’m going to start by talking about some rules. I have play-tested none of these. Right now they’re basically ideas. I’m going to introduce them one-by-one and then spend some time elaborating on them.

Initiative

Initiative is probably the single biggest thing that can determine the outcome in battle. Attacking is a far better choice than any kind of defensive move. Winning initiative means you have a chance to focus attack the enemy and maybe even wipe some of them out before they can do any damage to you.

I think initiative should be side based. The players all go, and then the monsters all go, or vice versa depending on who wins initiative. I prefer side based initiative because it allows for the opportunity for players to really strategize together. And to some degree, it kind of makes a bit more sense to me. Imagine two groups facing off in a field. They don’t take turns sending a person from each group to the other side. Each group is going to kind of move and act as a group. The side that has the jump on the other group is going to rush forward as a group first.

Combat takes place in rounds. At the start of each round both sides roll initiative. The winning side takes turns going. Then the loosing side. I don’t bother with having a specific sequence. I let the players decide who on their side wants to go first and what they want to do etc.

After the round a new round begins. Initiative is rolled again. Yes, this could end up with the same side going twice in a row. Where it goes side 1 (winner) → side 2 (looser) → (roll initiative) → side 2 (winner) → side 1 (looser). I think this is good as it makes combat a little bit unpredictable. Sometimes you’ll loose initiative but then manage to win it the next time and get to go twice and press your attack. Sometimes the opposite happens. It makes the mental math of, oh, I may get hit again by them on their turn but can take about 3 more hits, so I’m going to stay where I am for about 3 turns, a bit more unpredictable.

I know this style of initiative is nothing new and I think(?) basically the standard rules for OSE. I just wanted to bring it up to clarify.

Big Monsters

I’m not going to spend a lot of time talking about big monster fights. For the most part I find these tend to be the most fun in OSR combat. It’s easy to picture a giant troll or dragon and think of interesting things it can do to make the fight more dynamic and force the players to react or come up with ideas on how they’re going to deal with it. Like the dragon can breath fire. The giant troll can kick or pick up and throw players. Single monsters also generally have lots of HP and armour and attacks so even though the players are focusing on them, they don’t go down quick or easy.

Groups and Formation

Fights against smaller groups of weaker enemies I find tend to be more boring. They can be interesting if you have a lot of mixed combat troops and combined arms, but I find you really need miniatures to do that. Having 4-5 weaker enemies doesn’t leave a lot of room for combined arms.

One thing I think is a good idea to do is even if it’s only a group of 4-5 enemies, at the beginning of combat, ask the players about how they are arrayed in the space and describe the enemies general formation. Like for example, if you describe the enemy as “five bandits in a line, space between them, all wielding bows.” It’s going to paint a different picture and probably lead to a different fight then “five bandits, three out front with swords and shields drawn, two behind them with bows notched.” Even though you may have just rolled “5 bandits” on the random encounter table for both instances.

No matter how you choose to array yourself in combat, you’re going to naturally be in some kind of formation, be it a disorganized clump. This formation is really going to affect the flow and nature of combat even if it’s a very forwards/backwards affair without complex movement or 3D space.

You don’t need to have a complex order of battle or instructions on which enemy is going to do what, like you’d see in some older high level models. But I do think talking about formation at the beginning helps paint a clear starting picture.

Direction and Blocking

Based on my assumptions listed above, this combat scenario is happening most of the time between two small groups in an open space and movement proceeding in a largely linear fashion, usually forwards/backwards. While this may seem kind of boring, there is a game that largely involves this and is watched by millions of people (although I am not one!), American football!

I bring it up as if you reframe OSR small group combat to be kind of like football, I find it a lot more easy to imagine. In football, blocking space as a group and looking openings (I imagine) is important, and if one side acts as a group in doing so, everyone playing their part, they’ll perform much better than the other side.

I find it also helps turn things into a bit of a rock/paper/scissor affair where one side decides to block left and go right, the other block right and go left; in thinking of the individual players and enemies as groups or loose formations, it’s much easier to keep track of mentally and draw out in a simple fashion if you need to.

Primary Rule Change

In order to reframe combat in this manner, I’d like to make one simple rule change and have everything else that follows a logical result from this rule change. It is:

Formation attack bonus: Characters players gain +1 to their attack rolls for every allied character surrounding the individual enemy they are attacking.

While this is a fairy subtle change, I do think it fundamentally changes the nature of combat as it makes grouping up far more powerful and forces both players and the Referee to consider formations and groupings. For example, consider the following scenarios:

Bandits in a horizontal line: the fighter can’t just run forward and immediately start attacking the middle bandit while the other players stand back and just fire arrows or spells. If he does so, the two bandits on either side in the line are likely to move in and attack from the sides, surround him, and gain +3 attack (one for each bandit grouped around the fighter). A better strategy would be to have him attack the left or right most bandit, or have him and another player or two rush forward as a group and gain the group bonus while attacking a single bandit.

Bandits in a group, 3 in front with shield, two in back with bows: once again if the fighter runs in and just attacks it may not go so well. He’s better off trying to get around or trying to break up the formation through throwing a flask of oil, having the mage cast a spell, charging forward as a group with the cleric, firing arrows while the bandits slowly advance, etc.

Two wolves, one circling the group, the other snarling in front: if the fighter attacks the lead wolf, he risks the circling one attacking a weaker character like a mage from behind. If the other characters fall back together they may be able to fend it off while gaining the bonus, while the fighter attcks’s the front wolf.

In this manner both these combats become a little more dynamic and like a puzzle just through having this one rule.

Additional Player Actions

Based on the above scenarios, we can begin to see players probably wanting to perform certain actions to disrupt, break up, or get around enemy formations or get into and fight in formations of their own. I think some of these common actions can be codified in the following ways (and could also be used by enemies):

Charge: using their move action the character rushes forward and attempts to shove a character out of a formation by making an apposed strength check. If they succeed the character is dislodged and no longer counts towards the formation attack bonus.

Taunt: the character taunts an enemy, they make a charisma check, and if successful the enemy moves to attack them on their next turn.

Dodge: the character wants to get around an enemy formation or grouping without engaging. They make a dexterity check and if successful are able to get around it.

Defend: on your turn do not attack and your AC is increased by 2 until next turn. You still count towards the formation attack bonus.

Now all of these actions are fairly loose and still involve Referee interpretation. For example I probably wouldn’t let a player charge a hill giant or big monster and just rule any attempt would be a failure. They’re simply too strong. Some formations, like a bunch of dismounted armoured knights, are probably slow moving where I wouldn’t make them make a dexterity check to get around them. Whereas others, like a pack of rabid dogs, are probably so fast that I would make them roll the dexterity check at a disadvantage.

Additionally, for big single monsters, I’d highlight that in order to get the formation attack bonus you need to surround the enemy. If you have two or more people running up and attacking a human sized person I’d give them the bonus. If you have two or more people attacking a dragon I’d make them actually surround it. They’d have to take move actions to get around the front of it (while avoiding attacks from it’s wings and tail) in order to get into a position where they can really distract it’s attention and attack it from all sides.

Same kind of goes for a tight formation like a phalanx. If you have 5 characters run up to fight it I’d probably rule the bonus is like 3 as there’s really only enough room in front for 3 people to attack a single person and gain the bonus. If they want to increase the other two are going to have to swing to the side and try to attack from the side while the phalanx is probably trying to do the same.

Player Roles in Combat

Overall I find these rules help grant the less martial characters more of a role in combat. I find most of the time in typical RPGs the classes are envisioned like this when it comes to combat:

• Fighter: attacks and deals damage.

• Cleric: heals and buffs characters.

• Thief: backstabs

• Mage: casts spells.

Modern D&D tends to really emphasize this which I find makes combat longer and longer and more and more involved where every class and character has their moment to shine during combat as they need to be doing something during combat.

I like OSR style games as it kind of re-evaluates the roles of each character where:

• Fighter: attacks and deals damage. Is good at combat exclusively.

• Cleric: heals and buffs characters. Is good before or after combat and dealing with consequences of actions.

• Thief: picks locks and deals with traps, good at skill challenges.

• Mage: casts spells. Good at puzzles and problem solving.

In this manner OSR games tend to focus each class at being good at a different challenge in the game, of which only combat is one in number.

However, this kind of still doesn’t really solve the problem of what do the other non-martial characters do while in combat? It’s not like they can do nothing. As apposed to exploration time where it’s more abstract and you can have the thief handle the locked door fairly quickly, in combat you all take turns going and are focused on the fight. What do they do if they’re kind of designed to not be effective at combat? Just roll, miss a bunch of times, and get a hit occasionally? What I find happens is the following:

• Fighter: attacks and deals damage.

• Cleric: fires bow at whatever the fighter is attacking, occasionally heals someone.

• Thief: fires bow at whatever the fighter is attacking.

• Mage: fires bow at whatever the fighter is attacking. Casts magic missile occasionally.

My answer to what do the other non-martial characters do while in combat? Is simple. They try to aid the fighter in attacking in melee. How do they do this? by being part of or helping break up melee formations. In this manner I see combat as much more collaborative affair. It’s not about each character having their moment to shine and backstabbing or unleashing a lightning bolt, or cleaving an enemy, or, at lower levels, all focus firing your bows at whatever the fighter is attacking or an enemy nearby the fighter if you play with firing into combat penalties.

Instead, it’s about all the characters working together in a group and getting a bonus because of it (or facing an enemy who has a bonus because they’re working together in a group better).

Afterword

I haven’t tested any of these rules. I have some other ideas for little additions or changes but I think I’ll just leave it here for now and continue to think about them.