Battle System

# Blake's Battle System

This is a system that I have been working on that would be easily aplicable to any roleplay or roleplay game that is utilizing a grid based map, whether if that's squares, hexes, or isometrics.

Related Articles:

* Weapon Types
* Armour Types

## Turns

### Actions

Each character gets 3 actions and 1 bonus action during each turn, along with a set number of tiles they can move on, based on their movement speed. Different weapons have different speeds, indicated by •, ••, or •••, which show how many of the actions are used for attacking. Weapons that only consume 1 can attack 3 times, while weapons that consume two can attack twice by also consuming the bonus action. Each consecutive hit deals less damage, in the order of 3/3, 2/3 and 1/3 for weapons that can attack three times, and in the order of 2/2 and 1/2 for weapons that can attack twice. Movement does not consume any actions. Things performed quickly like changing weapons, grabbing a small item off the ground or drinking a potion will use the bonus action, which cannot be used by other, longer or more intensive actions. If the bonus action is depleted, all other actions that would normally consume a bonus action will use normal action.

### Turn Orders

A turn order is determined at the start of a combat encounter. This will be determined by adding each character's Agility bonus to a d20 roll, with the highest roll going first, and the lowest going last. If two characters roll the same number (Agility bonus included), they may choose to have a synchronized turn, in which they move at once. This is up to the players if they want to, and up to the DM to decide if they will allow it.

## Movement

Every creature has it's own movement speed, determining the distance they can cover in a single turn. The baseline for most creatures is 30ft. When running, dashing, etc. the movement speed doubles, however an action is consumed. Some creatures will also have flying, climbing, swimming or burrowing speeds if they can perform them regularly without breaking a sweat. So, your average joe will not have a climb speed, but a bug certainly will.

## Health

Health is divided into 3 parts:

* **Shield Points**
* **Health Points**
* **Fatal Health Points**

### Shield Points

Shield Points are any health points that exceed your maximum HP which you are still allowed to have. These will not regenerate, unless more items are consumed or spells are cast which grant you Shield Points. Losing Shield Points will not affect your character's physical state.

### Health Points

These are a character's main pool of health, which can be fully restored during long rest periods or only have portions restored during shorter rests. Damage sustained here translates to direct physical damage, visible on the character. If a character's Health Points are depleted, they fall unconscious. If an attack's damage exceeds the receiver's Health Points, the remaining damage is directly transferred to Fatal Health Points.

### Fatal Health Points

These Health Points only come into picture once a character has fallen unconscious, is in an adrenalized state, or, if applicable, at the last phase(s) of their fight. If Fatal Health Points hit 0, the character either dies or falls comatose. It is also likely for the character to lose limbs while receiving hits to their Fatal Health Points. Fatal Health Points only heal at a fixed rate once every short rest, instead of healing completely like standard Health Points.

## Passive Defense

Passive Defense is divided into 2 parts:

* **Evasion Value**
* **Armour Value**

### Evasion Value

Evasion Value determines a character's capacity to dodge incoming attacks. If an attack roll is below the target's Evasion Value, they dodge the attack, taking no damage from it. Attacks with large radii (such as explosions) will still deal damage, albeit the damage will be calculated as if the target is 1 extra tile away from the explosion center.

### Armour Value

Armour Value determines a character's ability to tank incoming attacks. If an attack roll is above the target's Evasion Value, but below their Armour Value, then they will receive reduced damage from it. Damage reduction is calculated via adding up a character's Endurance & their Armour's Resistance value, then dividing it by 12 (rounded down) and dividing the damage by that number. So, as an example:

Endurance 12, Armour Resistance 16, Damage Received 6

12+16=28, 28/12≈2, 6/2=3

Therefore, the damage received is 3.

Aside from this, differing types of Armour have differing resistances and weaknesses. For example, Plate Armour is completely immune to non-magical slashing attacks, while Chainmail is highly resistant to it, and is weak to piercing attacks.

So, using the same calculation as before, while adding the two assumptions that the receiver is wearing plate armour and are being attacked by a slashing weapon:

6x0=0

This result would be achieved as the resistances and weaknesses are applied beforehand, removing or reducing damage by percentages (rounded down).

Once again using the same calculation, but this time being attacked by an armour piercing bullet:

16/8=2, 6+2=8

Therefore, damage received is 8, as armour piercing rounds ignore body armour and add 1/8 damage, meant to represent the fragments of the armour flaking off around the impact area and hitting the body like shrapnel. This only applies to armours made of metal, stone, etc. and lighter armours like leather or gambeson are unaffected.

## Active Defense

Active Defense includes 3 different actions:

* **Block**
* **Parry**
* **Riposte**

### Block

Blocking is an action that can be performed instead of attacking, or alongside attacking if two weapons or a shield and a weapon are being held simultaneously. Roll a d20 when blocking. If your enemies attack roll is above your roll, they manage to hit around the block. Blocking without a shield is always with disadvantage. If a block is successful, the shield will receive damage instead, the damage it receives is calculated by dividing the attacking damage value by the shield's resistance value, and deducting that from its Health pool. Certain weapons like axes and halberds deal bonus damage to shields, while other weapons like firearms can bypass shields. If blocking without a shield, the damage received will either be reduced to 5/6, 4/5 or 3/4, depending on if the weapon used is light, medium or heavy. ranged projectiles cannot be blocked in this manner.

### Parry

Parrying can only be performed with a weapon or, technically, with bare hands. When Parrying, roll a d20. If it is higher than theirs by 5 or more points, you parry their attack, allowing you to strike again within the same turn with advantage, while ignoring all damage you would have taken. When parrying with bare hands, you need to roll an 18 or higher, alongside with the previous 5 point requirement. If you succeed, everything else continues in the same manner. If a parry roll is above the enemy attack roll, but below the 5 point requirement, it will become a block.

### Riposte

If a parry roll is a natural 20, it becomes a Riposte. A Riposte returns all damage that normally would have been received, back to the attacker. If the damage is fatal to the attacker and if you don't want a boss or player character to die in a single hit because of sheer chance, it may be reduced to 1/2 of the damage instead, making it much more survivable.

## Melee Weapons

Melee weapons function nearly identically to D&D5E, just with some modifications.

If an enemy is within range and it is your turn, you can attack. Roll a d20 to do so. If your Attack Roll is higher than the enemy's Armour Value, and the damage type your weapon does can pass through your enemy's armour, you will do damage. Roll a damage dice or deal the exact damage value listed in a weapon's stats.

### Weapon Stances

Most weapons feature several different stances, each providing different damage types and values. For example, a longsword, which is normally a slashing weapon, can also do;

* **Thrusts**, which deal piercing damage in exchange for -2 to the attack roll.
* **Half Swording**, a stance in which the sword's blade is gripped at the halfway point by one hand to deliver more pinpoint strikes, which will deal piercing damage without negatively effecting the attack roll, and instead reducing damage.
* **Mordhau**, a stance where the sword's blade will be gripped and the pommel will be used like a mace, which will deal blunt damage in exchange for reduced damage.

Similar to this, most weapons will have various grip styles and stances which will deal different types and amounts of damage.

### Blocking, Parrying & Feinting

Instead of attacking, one can Black, Parry, or Feint, the details of the Block & Parry are provided in the previous section.

#### Feinting

When attacking, youcan choose to make their attack a feint. You will still roll and attack and damage roll, and will not give this information to your opponent, instead only telling the Dungeon Master. If the opponent attempts to parry this attack, they will automatically fail, and your next attack roll will be with advantage. If your opponent attacks during your feint, you will receive damage as normal. If they also feint or do nothing, neither side will receive any damage.

## Ranged Weapons

Ranged weapons also take their base functionality from D&D5E, with modifications.

### Bows

Bows are by far the simplest. If you're below a certain Strength and/or Agility level, your attacks will be with disadvantage, regardless of if you have training or not. Each weapon has a minimum and maximum range, anything below minimum gives disadvantage to your attack roll, while anything above maximum is completely inaccesible.

Arrows can be used as daggers, dealing d4 damage. They can also be used in slings, being slung in the same way as War Darts, dealing 2/3 of the damage they would normally deal with a bow, rounded down. They can also be thrown like a dart without the sling, dealing only 1/2 damage and being rolled with disadvantage.

Bows are considered silent weapons, and their sound will not alert others, assuming an arrow did not just zip by them.

Arrows can have properties applied, such as the arrowhead being lit on fire, or a rope being tied to an arrow to assist in climbing. Arrows themselves can also be used as rudimentary climbing tools, however they always come with the risk of snapping off.

### Crossbows

Crossbows function similarly to bows, however do not have a Strength or Agility requirement for shooting accurately. However, if your Strength is lower than the required value, their reload time, which is either 1 or 2 turns, will be increased by 1. They also have reduced range compared to bows. Otherwise, they are completely identical.

### Firearms

Firearms function similarly to crossbows in that *most* don't have stat requirements. Unlike (most), crossbows, however, they can have magazines, meaning several shots could be fired before reloading. Automatic weaponry shoots in bursts for gameplay sake, with their speed determining the number shots in a single round's burst. Each shot has their attack and damage rolls rolled separately, meaning that when firing multiple shots, they can hit or miss independently from each other.

Firearm malfunctions occur when a 1 is rolled for *any* of the attack rolls of the bullets, simulating a bullet detonating prematurely. One of the following can happen, either roll a d8 or let your Dungeon Master determine:

* **Jam** (1-2), The weapon jams as the hammer hits the bullet casing too early, the bullet itself gets stuck in the barrel, or the cartridge fails to eject properly, getting stuck in the bolt. Likelier to happen if the weapon has been firing continuously for a period, and almost guaranteed if a bullet of the wrong caliber is loaded. If you're lucky, you must simply charge the bolt back, consuming a bonus action. If you're unlucky, you must disassemble and clear the gun. Different guns will determine which works in their descriptions.
* **Catastrophic Failure** (3-4), the gunpowder's pressure cannot be contained within the gun, and the barrel ruptures, destroying most components along with it. This will not damage the user as long as it isn't using high caliber ammo, however it will turn the gun into scrap metal. Certain weapons are immune to this.
* **Dud** (5-6), The trigger is pulled, but the bullet is not fired, usually due to the gunpowder failing. If there are several shots that come after this, it will turn into a jam. Non-ballistic firearms are immune to this.
* **Slamfire** (7-8), The gun shoots one more time even though the trigger isn't pulled. This is much more prone to happening when using handmade guns, and may even happen outside combat if the gun is tossed around or shaken too much.

Reloading always takes 1 turn, unless stated otherwise by the weapon.