My Life As A Gamer: You Got Man-To-Man Combat In My Wargame (Part Two)

(Citations from the Player's Handbook (PHB) and Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG) for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st Edition (AD&D1e) as needed.)

(Yesterday's post is here.)

The Procedure

Combat in AD&D1e has a defined procedure to it, as befits a wargame. DMG p.61 lays it out.

1. Determine if either or both parties are SURPRISED.
2. Determine distance, if unknown, between the parties.
3. If both parties are unsurprised, or equally surprised, determine INITIATIVE for that round.
4. Determine the results of whatever actions are decided upon by the party with initative.
   1. Avoid engagement (flee, slam door, use magic to escape, etc.) if possible.
   2. Attempt to parley
   3. Await action by other party.
   4. Discharge missiles or magical device attacks or cast spells or turn undead.
   5. Close to striking range, or charge.
   6. Set weapons against possible opponent charge.
   7. Strike blows weapons, to kill or subdue.
   8. Grapple or hold.
5. Determine the results of whatever actions are decided upon by the party which lost the iniative (as per A through H above).
6. Continue each melee round by determination of distance, initiative, and action until melee ends due to fleeing, inability to continue, or death of one or more parties.

That is the procedure. This is not a set of guidelines; this is hard-coded machine operation. The discretion allowed here is minimal; the Dungeon Master (DM) may skip elements that are not applicable, but otherwise each Round goes down in this order.

The side that won initiatve goes first, then--if any are left--the losing side goes; if combat can continue at the end of the Round, and both parties want to continue, then it does and another Round begins.

That, dear reader, is a wargame. You see this sort of language when looking at historical wargames, or fantastic variations thereof--Osprey Publishing has an entire line of such games now, as The Joy of Wargaming likes to cover.

This procedure is used for a handful of delvers in the Dungeon, armies clashing in the field, navies crashing into each other on the seas, and great beasts dogfighting in the air.

Keep this procedure in mind as I go forward through discussion on AD&D1e's combat. A lot of preconceptions stem from misunderstanding this procedure.

Surprise

With the above in mind, Surprise should be separated out for particular attention as it is a condition that has a lot of impact but only at the start of a combat.

As laid out in the rules (DMG p. 61-62), this is a roll of 1d6 for each side, and a result of 1-2 means Surprise by default; circumstances which modify this will be spelled out (e.g. Rangers reducing their side to 1 in 6 and their enemies to 3 in 6 (PHB p. 24)).

If neither party is Surprised, or both parties are Surprised for the same duration, then Surprise is rendered moot and the DM can skip it; record (if applicable) the Segments lost for timekeeping purposes (spell durations, etc.) and move on.

If one party gets Surprise on the other, then the winning party gets to act unopposed against the losers. Refer to A-H above; the winning party can do those things for every Segment of Surprise (spell-casting being a usual exception due to casting times). Attacks against Surprised targets get no benefits from high Dexterity scores (DMG p.62, PHB p.11), and Surprise adjustments serve only to negate Surprise when it happens.

In practical terms, Surprise is the cornerstone of Ambushes; the amount of damage that can be wrought between one and three Segments--during which the winners can do nigh-full Rounds of actions--cannot be underestimated. The losers can't rely on Dexterity to avoid damage, can't strike back in any way, can't move, and just gets to take it. It's just shy of being Helpless (DMG p. 70) and thus open to getting auto-ganked according to the Assassination table (p. 75).

As it is, a well-prepared ambusher will gain Surprise from the Rear or Flank, further negating advantages of Dexterity as well as shields and maybe granting additional bonuses to attacks (ibid).

Conclusion

The advantage that Surprise grants is so massive that a combat Encounter can start and end before the losing party can react. This is where Rangers in particular shine, but also including Assassins, Monks, and Thieves due to their own stealth capacities.

Once that advantage elapses, then normal combat begins, and we begin to see where and how the Fighter finds his footing. We'll get into the details of the procedure tomorrow.