Dungeons & Dummies: Activities, Combat and Equipment

Oh boi, this is going to get a little bit messy. Not as messy as Magic, mind you.

A little foreword: I’m going to use the same style of my first post about this, so rules + digressions. I swear all the rules stuff is going in a nice document someday. Hopefully soon.

If you know a little about D&D you'll recognize most numbers here. This should make filling any gap I'm too lazy to fill myself easier.

That's what we're talking about today.
Chainmail by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. No idea who made the picture.

Turn-based Chaos, a Crash Course:

Actions are resolved in a structured manner. Exploration actions take roughly 10 minutes, and are used for actions such as picking locks, disarming traps, and moving inside dungeons. 10 minutes is usually what it takes to make 4 times your normal movement in feet while carefully mapping and moving slowly (usually, 120 feet is a room or a corridor segment) or 3 times as much moving carelessly.
Exploration turns are resolved simultaneously.

Digression: I don’t plan on using the term “Exploration Action” anymore, it’s much easier to just write “this takes 10 minutes”. Most Occult Profession actions, for example, take 10 minutes (or multiples of that) for this precise reason. Also I don’t run your games and I don’t know how populated your dungeons are, so remember to add Random Encounter Tables rules on your own (hopefully, something interesting and slightly different for each dungeon).

Combat turns are much faster. Each combat turn is an handful of seconds. Each group of combatants has its own turn. Turn order is decided by each side rolling a d20, and going from highest to lowest. Actions inside a turn are resolved in the preferred order by the whole group.

Digression: I found out I love group initiative. Everything is better: it both allows to make more interesting plans and speeds up turn resolution. Helps keep everyone on their toes, and everyone has much less downtime since they have a say in how to better face each situation (this is also greatly enforced by how frail and limited single characters are, cooperation is the key to survival in hostile environments).

Each character starts with 3 Action to use during their group’s turn. These are reduced by encumbrance. An Action can be used for single, simple thing like moving 30 feet, making a single attack, casting a spell, taking something from your inventory or anything else that can be completed in no more than a few seconds.

An attack against an aware opponents usually has Difficulty 1. Attacks against unaware opponents have Difficulty 0 and on a success immediately fill all the Injuries of the target, forcing a Strength Saving Throw to not die. You count as unaware if you have 1+Fighting opponents around you, or just Fighting if you are unarmed. Allies counter opponents.

Digression: gang up and kill. Only true Conans can fight 4 people at once and emerge victorious. Watch out for when you meet one. Note that this rules only apply to humanoid or otherwise “normal” opponents.

Fighting unarmed counts as a fighting with a Small weapon, except you can’t catch unaware opponents with it, you only inflict 1 Affliction on a Success, and nothing on a failure.

Don't be that guy.
Fallout 4 Fan Art by unknown artist.

Walk Softly and Carry a Lot of Stuff:

Items have a weight and an encumbrance. For every 3 items you carry, you incur in increasing maluses. Some items are bigger than others, and counts as many items carried (like big weapons or tents); while some others are much less significant on their own and count as a single item up to a certain threshold (like arrows).

Digression: encumbrance needs simple, significant and punishing rules. It is the single most important factor that is ALWAYS overlooked in games, because it is always perceived as just boring math that changes your movement speed a little. That is not true when the focus on the game is where it should be in any good OSR game: exploring and living fantastical places, that keep pushing you and consuming your limited resources. That’s also why dungeons are so inherently interesting: they are almost actively hostile places that ask you to make interesting choices every minute. Deciding how much food you’re going to carry in an expedition is the first of those choices, and if you don’t keep track of the weight you can get in with you are stripping yourself of an integral part of the game.

After 3 items, you lose an Action per turn. After 6 items, you additionally get +1 Difficulty for every check you make. After 9 items, you lose another Action per turn. You can never carry more than 12 items worth of stuff on yourself alone. You can drag up to 24 items, but you move 10 feet per action this way and are always unaware during combat. You can stop dragging freely during your turn and return moving normally, declaring which items you leave behind.
A sack with 50 coins of any kind weights like 1 item. Roughly humanoid figures such as characters weight like 9 items (plus the weight of all the stuff they're carrying).

Be practical.
Unknown Survival Backpack.

Digression: dragging rules can be important. You can double your carriable weight at the cost of being unable to do anything apart from crawling around. This can be crucial when somebody is knocked out or when you’re trying to maximize the loot you’re carrying. Also, this makes actually organizing a true expedition, with retinues and helping hands, important on all levels of the game and not just for overland travels. The idea of the party being more than just 3 random sociopaths but an actual functioning expedition of tens of people is extremely thrilling for me, and gives space for retired characters to stay relevant even if they don’t dare the undergrounds anymore.

Items have a Durability and a Wear. Durability a measure of how much an item could keep working under stress; Wear is a measure of how much the item needs maintenance. Whenever an item is used improperly, or after some time, it gets worn out and must check if it breaks. This works like a normal check with Ability Score 10. Wear is the Difficulty, while Durability is the Skill. If the check succeeds, the item increases its Wear by 1, otherwise it breaks down.

Digression: nothing lasts forever, be it your love or your sword. Use your sword improperly (like I use my love) and it will last even less. That’s important to know, a nice and steady supply of swords might be just what you need, especially if you plan to stay light and not bring an extra crowbar. A successful expedition isn’t only determined by how strong you are, but also by how much resources you can commit long term.

Durability is determined by the item material (Wood: 0, Steel: +2, Glass: -1) and the quality of the item (Masterwork: +1, Cheap: -1).

Without proper maintenance, items get wear from time and environment. At the end of each day, the items that have been used and that did not receive maintenance check for Wear. Any item that has not been properly conserved (such as those carried during travel) checks for Wear once a week. Items in a secure place don’t check for wear.

A character can take care of up to 3 items worth of weight during his normal rest. A character spending a day fixing stuff can take care of up to 12 items worth of weight. A character with a proper workshop (like a forge) can take care of up to 24 items worth of weight, and can remove all wear from a single item. Characters can pool their efforts to take care of more complex items.

Digression: that’s another spot where retinues can become crucial even if they are not specifically a part of the ruleset. That reminds me that I didn’t explain Morale rules, but don’t worry they work exactly like Durability and Wear.

Not complex like that, I swear.
DayZ weapon chart from Reddit.

Weapons of Small Destruction:

Weapons are divided in 2 kinds (Melee and Ranged), and each kind has 3 categories, depending on their effectfullness.

Melee weapons can only be used in close quarters (5 feet). They can be Small, Medium or Heavy.

Small weapons inflict 3 Afflictions upon a Success, and have a 50% chance of inflicting 1 Affliction on a failure. They can be easily hidden and used unexpectedly in melee and unarmed combat. They can be unsheated as part of an attack, possibly catching an opponent unaware at the start of an engagement. They weight as 1 item. They are mostly small, potentially lethal weapons like short knives, brass knuckles and so forth.

Digression: small weapons are the least powerful. However they can be used while grappling, that's a big plus. And they can be a really nasty surprise if the enemy haven't seen them. I have no idea how to handle grappling right now. They weight like a sword because they take extra effort to hide them.

Standard weapons inflict 1 Injury on a success, and 1 Affliction on a failure. They are the most common kind of weapons, and are wielded one handed. They weight as 1 item. They are common tools of war like swords, hammers, and so forth.

Digression: this should be the most common kind of weapon around. Expect most people, especially war-ready ones, to carry one of those in the form of a sword. That's what every grandpa has over their fireplace in the old house.

Man takes up the Big Weapon to shield the small wound in his heart.
Berserk Colorized Panel by Kentaro Miura.

Big weapons inflict 2 Injuries on a success, and have a 50% chance of inflicting 1 Affliction on a failure. They are heavy, bulky, unwieldy and frankly improbable weapons, and impose an extra penalty of +2 Difficulty on checks made with them. They weight as 3 items. They are imposing weapons, almost always custom-made, like Zweihanders.

Digression: Big weapons are meant to be a rare sight, especially outside real armies. Think of them as the Dragonslayer from Berserk, except almost nobody fights 2-handed for pragmatic reasons. If you see someone with one of those, you can be quite sure they're not in their right mind. 

Ranged weapons can attack from afar. They take +1 Difficulty for every 60 feet in optimal condition (outside, with no extreme wind and in broad daylight) and +1 Difficulty for every 30 feet in any other condition. The extra Difficulty is always rounded by excess. They only inflict damage on a success. Ranged Weapons can be Traditional, Advanced or Firearms.

Traditional weapons inflict 1 Injury on targets with Light or no armor, and 3 Afflictions on everyone else. They have a maximum range of 180 feet in optimal conditions and 90 feet in other conditions.. Taking the ammo, preparing it, and firing is usually part of a single Action. The weapon and 10 shots weight like 1 item; every extra 15 shots weight like 1 item. They are simple weapons like bows and slings.

Digression: these are the most common, easier to use Ranged weapons. For all intents and purposes, most creatures except big crustacean or something like that will probably be considered as Light armored, so they are good for hunting and so on. Ammo is much lighter than other ranged weapons too, and that's very significant. 

As Advanced as it gets.
Crossbow randomly found on the internet.

Advanced weapons inflict 2 Injuries on target with Medium or worse armor, and 1 Injury on targets with Heavy armor. They have double the maximum range of Traditional weapons, and halve the range penalties. Their ammo is heavy, and requires an Action to be taken and reloaded before firing. The weapon weights like 1 item, and every 5 shots carried weight like 1 item. They are complex weapons like crossbow.

Digression: these are better things. They hurt like a breakup when you're psychologically frail from work, and weight like one in your backpack too. The increased ammo weight and the extra effort to shoot are significant enough to avoid bringing them if not needed.

Firearms inflict 2 Injuries on everyone. They completely ignore Armor. They have no max range, but double all the range penalties due to being unwieldy and rough. Reloading a firearm takes 10 minutes, in order to clean it properly, measure the black powder and load it in. They get Wear every time they are used. Each Firearm weights like 1 Item, and each shot weights like 1 item (due to having to keep everything safe and dry).

Digression: I like firearms, in a Pirates of the Caribbean style (or sorta magic wand style), deadly last resorts. They should probably cause a roll on the random encounter table. Also, make them explode in the face of the user when they break, like a Bugs Bunny's cartoon.

Beatiful and damned, like his armor.
Knight Artorias the Abysswalker from Dark Souls by From Software.

Armor Up:

Armor makes characters harder to hit. Better Armors negate some damage from attacks. There are 3 categories of Armor: Light, Medium, Heavy.
Worn armor doesn’t count towards carry weight. Every armor except for Heavy ones takes 10 minutes to be worn or taken off. You can't benefit from rest while wearing an Armor.

Light armors increase the Difficulty of any attack by 1. They also increase the Difficulty of any movement-related check (like climbing or swimming) by 1. When not worn, a Light armor weights like 1 item. They are usually little more than reinforced pads on clothes, with maybe a metal plate near vital spots.

Digression: I expect most parties to use that kind of armor. People can feasibly move around with it even in particular environments like caves. Also they weight very little when not worn.

Medium armors increase the Difficulty of any attack by 2. Apart from the malus from Light armors, they also make Swimming impossible and impose an extra +1 Difficulty on any check where you roll against Dexterity. They weight like 3 items when not worn. They are proper armors, like chainmail.

Digression: these are serious protections. They should be common enough, but should be the best anyone has access to outside of custom-made work to do professional warfare only. Still, they impose some hefty maluses that can make dungeoneering and traveling difficult.

A modern Heavy Armor.
Tachanka from Rainbow 6 Siege by Ubisoft.

Heavy armors increase the Difficulty of any attack by 2. They also ignore the results of failed attacks, and make any weapon attack like a weapon of a worse category. They have all the maluses from Light and Medium armor, and they also halve movement speed and make every movement-related check an automatic failure. They require two assistant to be taken on and off in 10 minutes; with only one assistant the process takes 30 minutes (an Armor step up every 10 minutes); you can’t wear one alone. They weight like 6 items when not worn. They are custom made, extremely thick, full-plate armor, the kind that only a noble or a king could normally afford.

Digression: these are… very situational at best. They are the non-plus-ultra for combat protection, but the movement maluses alone should more than make up for it. I don’t expect many people to use this. A guy with an armor like that is a force to be reckoned with, but can be bypassed by lateral thinking and uncommon tactics (flood the room, run away, climb a rope). Even if you constantly take it on and off as needed, the weight alone should provide a serious challenge to any party.

Shields must be carried in one hand to be used. They can make any attack an automatic failure. Shields get Wear when used. A shield weights like 2 items.

Digression: Shields Shall Be Splintered is a fantastic rule. This is my take on it. I expect Shields to become a commodity almost as important as food, and I expect most Shields to be disposable wooden ones. Probably shields are more useful than armors, but they are also a non-renewable resource that will be consumed much more so I'm ok with that.

Definitely on the bad side of the spectrum.
the sleepy spectrum by tiny snek comics.

I Need Sleep:

Fuck that's a lot of text . I'm sorry about that. Last post about this was well received so I decided to rush a bit the next ones, to allow people to have a better understanding of my whole idea and to give the bare minimum to let everyone play they version of Dungeons & Dummies. Unless you're really into magical mishaps summoning the laments of dead children in the form of a bleeding gnome, you should be set up for trying a few sessions I think.