Combat

[adapted from Vivian's House Rules]

First, I am making the rules playable without miniatures. No pushing pieces around when we could be describing glorious heroic moments!

This will mean that ranges (for spells and missile weapons) will be simplified a bit and areas of effects may be fudged. For those familiar with Spirit of the Century, I'm doing something similar to the "zone" rules. There will still be attacks of opportunity, btw! They just rely on being creative in your description of what you are doing.

For example:

Arturo, Berthold, Caesara,and Delphinia enter into combat with a small horde of horrid, dire rats and their mad Ranger master.  They have ventured into the sewer system of Sharn, where water spills from above, washing debris down into the lower city.  Entering a large room, there is a shallow pool in the center of the floor with a grating at the bottom to catch debris.  Water spills down through a chute into a waterfall, 20 feet above the pool.  The floor near the waterfall is quite slippery.  Above the waterfall is a small ledge, accessed by an ancient metal ladder.  On the ledge crouches the ranger with his bow.

Each of these areas is a zone: The floor of the room where the party begins, the shallow pool where dire rats await to attack the party, the slippery area near the base of the waterfall, the ancient metal ladder, and the narrow ledge. On the ledge, the ranger has the advantage of height and concealment, but he cannot attack those on the ladder with his bow. On the slippery floor, a party member has access to the ladder, but may be required to make an Acrobatics check to avoid sliding into the pool.

The rats can easily take orders from the Ranger to flank, and they are accustomed to working in that shallow pool. The players, on the other hand, are hampered, so would be better off outside the small pool picking them off, if it were not for the Ranger sniping at them. Also, without access to flight or a really good climb roll, that ranger isn't going to be flanked any time soon.

So...

• think strategy and drama rather than 5 foot steps
• Cinematic descriptions are usually rewarded
• Flanking is a matter of description, opportunity, and teamwork than precise placement