Attack declaration similarly to how spell declaration works => At the start of the round, damage interrupts
Using BX-ish rules in regards to phased combat, but skipping Morale checks for the sake of testing
Combat:
Initiative
Side A - Declare Actions => Morale => Movement => Missile => Spells => Melee
Side B - Declare Actions => Morale => Movement => Missile => Spells => Melee
Side B - Retreats, etc.
Characters: Randomly generated, all level 5
Aragorn: HP 36/36, AC 4, MV 20, +2 ATK, +2 DMG, +2 HP, 2H Sword (d10), Long Bow (d6)
Boromir: HP 26/26, AC 2, MV 10, +1 INI, -1 AC, Warhammer (d6) + Shield, Crossbow (d6)
Gimli: HP 36/36, AC 6, MV 30, -1 ATK, -1 DMG, +2 HP, Flail (d6) + Shield
Legolas: HP 25/25, AC 5, MV 20, +2 ATK, +2 DMG, -1 AC, +1 INI, +1 HP, Spear (d6) + Shield, Long Bow (d6)
Gandalf: HP 9/9, AC 8, MV 40, +2 ATK, +2 DMG, -1 HP, Daggers (d4)
Frodo: HP 25/25, AC 1, MV 10, +2 ATK, +2 DMG, +1 HP, Club (d4) + Shield, Sling (d4)
Sam: HP 30/30, AC 3, MV 10, +1 ATK, +1 DMG, +2 HP, Flail (d6) + Shield, Sling (d4)
Pippin: HP 25/25, AC 4, MV 20, +1 ATK, +1 DMG, +1 HP, Pick (d6) + Shield, Sling (d4)
Mary: HP 25/25, AC 6, MV 30, +1 HP, Mace (d6) + Shield, Sling (d4)
Playtest:
Part 1: Power Attacks => Double Damage
Encounter 1: Party vs 14 Hobgoblins => In a hallway, basically Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli and Legolas (second rank) vs the hobgoblin’s front line => Distance 70 ft.
Round 1:
Party wins initiative & advances, front rank fires missiles => 3 hobgoblins dead, rest advances
Round 2: Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli and Legolas declare power attack [PA]
Party loses initiative, hobgoblins advance and attack => misses
Party attacks => 2 hobgoblins dead, 1 due to PA
Round 3: Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli and Legolas declare PA
Party wins initiative and attacks => 2 hobgoblins dead, 1 due to PA, 1 wounded heavily due to PA
Hobgoblins attack => Legolas wounded
Round 4: Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli and Legolas declare PA
Party wins initiative and attacks => 1 hobgoblin dead, 1 wounded heavily due to PA
Hobgoblins attack => Aragorn & Legolas wounded
Round 5: Aragorn, Boromir and Gimli declare PA
Simultaneous initiative => Aragorn and Gimli wounded, 1 hobgoblin dead, 1 wounded heavily due to PA
Round 6: Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas declare PA
Party wins initiative and attacks => 4 hobgoblins dead, 1 due to PA
Hobgoblins attack => misses
Round 7: Legolas, Boromir and Gimli declare PA
Party wins initiative and attacks => 1 hobgoblin dead due to PA, 1 wounded heavily due to PA
Hobgoblins attack => Boromir wounded
Round 8: Legolas, Boromir and Gimli declare PA
Party wins initiative and attacks => 2 hobgoblins dead
End of Combat
HP after Combat: Aragorn 30/36, Boromir 20/26, Gimli 30/36, Legolas 17/25
The party got really lucky with their initiative rolls and were rewarded with killing 4 hobgoblins due to PA. 3 were heavily wounded due to PA, so they could be killed easier later on. All in all, they killed the hobgoblins faster than they would have otherwise and reduced the damage they would have taken.
Encounter 2: Party vs 30 Goblins and 4 Ogres => Room siege with a wooden gate the party is keeping shut
Round 1:
Party wins initiative, front line braces the gate, others ready missile weapons => 3 ogres attack the gate => suffers minor damage (19/20)
Two groups of 6 goblins each break off and make their way to ventilation shafts to flank the party
Round 2: Legolas declares PA if a hole opens up in the gate
Party loses initiative => 3 ogres attack the gate => suffers minor damage (16/20), flanking goblins advance
Small hole in the gate, Legolas attacks at -4 & misses
Round 3: Legolas declares PA
Party loses initiative => 3 ogres attack the gate => suffers major damage (4/20), flanking goblins advance, first ones in ventilation shafts
Legolas misses
Round 4: Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli and Legolas declare PA
Party wins initiative, only Legolas and Aragorn can attack effectively => 1 ogre dead due to PA, 1 wounded heavily due to PA
Living ogre replaces dead one, gate is destroyed, flanking goblins enter room through ventilation shafts, group of 5 goblins behind ogres readies spears to throw
Round 5: Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli, Pippin, Mary, Frodo and Sam declare PA
Party wins initiative => 1 ogre dead, 2 heavily wounded due to PA => 6 goblins dead
Ogres attack => Gimli wounded => Goblins attack => Boromir wounded
Round 6: Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli and Frodo declare PA
Party loses initiative => Aragorn & Gimli wounded, goblins wound Mary, Pippin
Party attacks, 3 goblins dead
Round 7: Legolas, Frodo and Sam declare PA
Party wins initiative => 1 ogre dead, 1 goblin dead
Goblins throw spears => Aragorn & Legolas wounded, goblins attack => Boromir & Frodo wounded
Round 8: Boromir and Frodo declare PA
Simultaneous initiative => last ogre dead due to PA, 2 goblins dead, 1 wounded, Aragorn wounded
Round 9: Frodo declares PA
Party loses initiative => Boromir & Gimli wounded, second rank of goblins attacks with spears => misses
Party attacks => last 2 goblins inside dead, 3 goblins outside dead
Round 10:
Party loses initiative => Boromir & Gimli wounded
Party attacks => 3 goblins dead, missile fire into second rank => 2 goblins dead
Round 11:
Party wins initiative => 6 goblins dead
Round 12:
Party loses initiative => last goblin misses and is killed
HP after Combat: Aragorn 23/36, Boromir 18/26, Gimli 25/36, Legolas 20/25, Frodo 23/25, Pippin 19/25, Mary 24/25
The party lost initiative about as often as they won it, but it only really worked against them in the round that Aragorn and Gimli declared PA against the ogres. Otherwise, the PAs were very effective against the ogres. Frodo kept declaring PA against the goblins due to his low damage dice and high AC, the others did not really need it against the low HP goblins. All in all, they killed the ogres faster, neutralizing the harder hitting threat, but opened themselves up to more attacks from the goblins, who attacked from the second rank.
Encounter 3: Party vs 8 Wights led by Evil Cleric (5th level) => Encirclement => Distance 110 ft.
Round 1:
Party wins initiative => moves toward evil cleric => wights and cleric move toward party
Round 2:
Party loses initiative => wights and cleric move toward party => party moves toward evil cleric, Gimli damages wight
Round 3: Gimli, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Mary declare PAs, Gandalf declares magic missile, Evil Cleric declares hold person
Party wins initiative => 1 wight dead, Evil Cleric wounded
Round 4: Gandalf declares magic missile, Evil Cleric declares hold person
Party wins initiative => Evil Cleric Dead
4 wights arrive & miss
Round 5: Party all declare PAs
Party wins initiative => 3 wights dead, 1 due to PA, 1 wounded heavily due to PA
Wight misses, last 3 wights arrive
Round 6: Party all declare PAs
Simultaneous initiative => 3 wights dead, 1 due to PA, Gandalf wounded
Round 7: Party all declare PAs
Party wins initiative => last wight dead
HP after Combat: Gandalf 4/9 + lost 1 level
The party got lucky again with initiative and also rolled good for attacks, while the wights rolled terribly. PAs helped out a bit to thin out the wights before they could all reach the party. Only Gandalf got hit due to getting cocky and joining melee. All in all, they killed the wights a bit faster, reducing the risk of losing levels.
Part 2: Various effects => Called Shots, Maneuvers, etc. Allowed for ranged attacks. Equal or higher level creatures get a save to avoid effects.
Encounter 1: Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli vs 3 Bugbears riding on 3 Worgs => Distance 60 ft.
Round 1: Legolas declares shooting a worg in the leg to make it and its rider fall, Aragorn declares shooting a bugbear’s arm holding its weapon, Gimli declares throwing a hand axe at a bugbear normally out of range
Party wins initiative => Worg and bugbear fall and are stunned for 1d4 (2) rounds, bugbear loses its weapon, Gimli misses
Bugbear that lost its weapon dismounts and picks it back up, worgs move forward
Round 2: Gimli declares dismounting the mounted bugbear, Legolas braces against worg’s charge, Aragorn declares finishing off the dismounted bugbear if Gimli is successful
Party wins initiative => bugbear dismounted and stunned for 1d4 (3) rounds, but Aragorn misses
Worg charges Legolas, both miss, other worg misses Gimli
Round 3: Aragorn declares strike at the worg’s legs, Legolas declares strike at the worg’s eye
Simultaneous initiative => Gimli and Aragorn hit worg, which misses and loses a leg (-2 to ATK and AC), bugbear arrives and hits Aragorn
Legolas and worg hit each other, worg loses one eye (-2 ATK)
Round 4: Gimli declares strike at worg’s head, Legolas declares strike at worg’s other eye
Simultaneous initiative => worg bites Gimli, then gets killed from strike to the head (3x damage), worg hits Legolas, then has other eye destroyed (-2 ATK, -4 AC)
Stunned worg and bugbear remount and move forward
Round 5: Gimli declares execution of stunned bugbear, Legolas declares bearing the worg to the ground to stun it
Party wins initiative => Gimli finishes off bugbear recovering from stun, Aragorn kills other bugbear, Legolas sweeps worg’s legs and stuns it for 1d2 (1) round
Last worg and bugbear arrive but miss Aragorn
Round 6: Aragorn declares knocking bugbear off worg, Gimli declares jumping on top of worg, Legolas declares finishing off bugbear if it falls
Party wins initiative => Aragorn knocks bugbear off, stuns it for 1d2 (2 rounds), Legolas misses, Gimli jumps on top of worg
Worg tries to throw Gimli off, but he holds on (save)
Round 7: Aragorn declares heavy strike at the worg, Gimli declares jumping onto stunned bugbear if the worg dies, Legolas declares execution of the recovering worg
Party loses initiative => worg misses Aragorn (-2 due to Gimli on its back), other worg recovers and bites Legolas
Aragorn finishes off worg (2x damage), Gimli kills stunned bugbear by landing on it
Round 8:
Simultaneous initiative => Party finishes off last worg, but Legolas is wounded once more
HP after Combat: Aragorn 30/36, Gimli 32/36, Legolas 4/25
Lucky initiative rolls for the party, allowing them to delay part of the enemy. The stuns from falling and being dismounted felt appropriate here and allowed the party to counter the enemy’s tactic (makes sense for maneuvers). Otherwise, this probably would have been a deadly encounter, with the party being greatly outnumbered (Legolas still almost died to a blind worg). All in all, the party punched above its weight, but mostly due to luck, since this could have gone very differently if they each had to face two attacks per round. I like the dynamism the declarations brought to the encounter here. Very dependent on making up quick rulings for the various situations though.
Encounter 2: Boromir, Mary and Pippin vs 10 Orcs in 2 waves => Distance 40 ft.
Round 1: Boromir declares headshot, Mary and Pippin declare knocking orcs back into other charging orcs with sling stones
Party loses initiative => 5 orcs arrive, Pippin gets hit => Boromir kills 1 orc with headshot
Round 2: Boromir declares knocking two orcs away from Mary, Pippin declares diving between the two orcs attacking them to confuse them
Party loses initiative => orcs miss => Boromir pushes orcs away (fail saves vs being knocked over), Pippin dives between his attackers (+2 AC)
Round 3: Boromir and Mary declare coup de grace on fallen orcs, Pippin declares hacking an orc’s arm off
Party wins initiative => all miss => orcs miss => next wave of orcs appears 40 ft. away
Round 4: Boromir and Mary declare heavy strikes, Pippin declares shield bash against 1 orc to shove to the ground
Party loses initiative => Pippin and Boromir hit => Mary misses
Round 5: Boromir declares pushing one orc into a group of three others to knock them down
Party wins initiative => Boromir kills 1 orc, pushes corpse at group of orcs, one is knocked down (failed save), Pippin kills 1 orc, Mary moves away and wounds 1 orc
Orcs miss
Round 6: Boromir and Mary declare aiming for the head to stun, Pippin declares diving into a group of 3 orcs again
Party loses initiative => Pippin hit => Boromir kills 1 orc, Mary stuns 1 for 1d4 (1) round
Round 7: Mary declares jumping into the orcs attacking Pippin, Boromir declares sweeping attack to hit both orcs attacking him
Party loses initiative => orcs miss => Boromir kills 1 orc, Pippin retreats and Mary takes his place
Round 8: Pippin declares headshot against recovering orc, Boromir declares shield rushing into the three orcs attacking Mary
Party wins initiative => Pippin kills 1 orc, Boromir kills 1 orc and knocks over another, Mary kills 1 orc => Orc misses
Round 9:
Party wins initiative => Boromir kills 1 orc => last orc misses
Round 10:
Party wins initiative => misses => orc wounds Boromir
Round 11:
Party loses initiative => orc misses => dies
HP after Combat: Boromir 12/26, Pippin 9/25, Mary 25/25
Tougher than expected. Being outnumbered is pretty dangerous, even if its only 1 HD creatures. This party deals the same damage as the orcs per attack (d6+1 at most), so they had to be a bit more daring with their declarations to avoid getting swarmed. The party get pretty unlucky with the initiative and attack rolls, so they suffered some wasted rounds. Boromir has good AC, so he could risk more even when faced with three attackers. All in all, the party probably fared only a small bit better than usual. The type of special attack being declared/possible is probably best guided by the current situation, e.g. execution following a knock down. For attacks without special effects, I would say a 2x damage modifier is enough, and for attacks from specially advantageous situations (execution), damage can be 3x or an instant kill.
Encounter 3: Party vs Balor => On a narrow bridge, Aragorn & Boromir in front => Distance 50 ft.
Round 1: Gandalf declares creating light to dispel the Balor’s darkness aura, Aragorn and Boromir declare disarming attacks, no ranged attack declarations possible due to darkness aura
Simultaneous initiative => Legolas and Sam hit with ranged attacks, Boromir is hit, Gandalf dispels darkness
Round 2: Aragorn and Boromir declare disarming attacks, Legolas declares eye stab, Gimli & Halflings declare shots at wings
Party loses initiative => Balor misses with whip & immolate => Frodo and Mary hit wings, but Balor saves successfully, so no special effects
Round 3: Aragorn and Boromir declare disarming attacks, Legolas declares eye stab, Gimli & Halflings declare shots at wings
Party loses initiative => Balor flies behind Gandalf and pulls Gandalf into flames => Gandalf dead, darkness aura back
Sam hits, Aragorn and Legolas engage in melee
Round 4:
Party wins initiative => Sam hits => Legolas gets pulled into flames and badly hurt
Round 5: Aragorn and Legolas declare heavy strikes into darkness
Party loses initiative => Aragorn is hit
Round 6: Aragorn and Legolas declare heavy strikes into darkness
Party wins initiative => misses => Legolas pulled into flames and barely alive
Round 7: Aragorn and Legolas declare heavy strikes into darkness
Party loses initiative => Aragorn pulled into flames => Sam hits
Round 8:
Party wins initiative => misses => Aragorn pulled into flames
Round 9:
Party wins initiative => Aragorn and Legolas retreat, Frodo and enter melee, Pippin hits => Sam pulled into flames
Round 10:
Party loses initiative => Frodo pulled into flames => Aragorn and Legolas hit
Round 11:
Party wins initiative => Sam hits => Sam pulled into flames => dead
Round 12:
Party wins initiative => misses => Frodo is hit
Round 13:
Party loses initiative => Frodo pulled into flames => dead => Mary and Pippin engage in melee
Round 14:
Party loses initiative => Pippin pulled into flames => Aragorn kills Balor
HP after Combat: Aragorn 8/36, Boromir 19/26, Legolas 1/25, Gandalf -8/9, Frodo -6/25, Sam -2/30, Pippin 15/25
Very tough fight, mostly because the darkness aura (-4 to hit) meant that most of the party had to roll 19-20 to hit the Balor. The high AC and likely hood that someone would get hit meant there was little chance to declare attacks. Might have been different if the combat area was more advantageous for the party’s size. All in all, if you can’t hit someone, you can’t use special effects against them :V.
Part 3: Monsters can also declare attacks, Damage threshold to interrupt attack = lvl, Some special maneuvers don’t need to hit
Encounter 1: Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf + 10 soldiers (1 HD) vs 40 Hobgoblins => Siege, party on top of wall => Distance 50 ft.
Round 1: Party, soldiers and hobgoblin archers (20) all declare aimed shots (2x damage)
Soldiers > Party > Hobgoblins => 3 hobgoblins dead, 1 wounded => 1 soldier dead, 1 wounded
Round 2: Party, soldiers and hobgoblin archers (20) all declare aimed shots
Party > Soldiers = Hobgoblins => 7 hobgoblins (archers) dead, 1 wounded => 1 soldier dead => two front ranks of hobgoblins put down ladders to climb walls
Round 3: Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli declare killing any climbing hobgoblins, Gandalf declares pushing off climbing hobgoblins, soldiers and hobgoblin archers all declare aimed shots
Party = Hobgoblins > Soldiers => 3 hobgoblins dead => Aragorn, Gimli hurt, 4 soldiers dead => 1 hobgoblin dead, 1 wounded
Round 4: Aragorn declares hitting three hobgoblin on ladders before him, Gimli declares pushing ladder off, Gandalf declares aimed shot, hobgoblins declare pushing soldiers off
Soldiers > Party > Hobgoblins => 2 hobgoblins dead => Aragorn kills 3 hobgoblins in front of him, Gimli pushes ladder down => 4 hobgoblins dead, 2 stunned from falling ladder => Gimli hurt
Round 5: Hobgoblins declare pulling Gimli and Legolas down, pushing soldiers off, Gimli and Legolas declare pushing ladder off, Aragorn declares striking 3 hobgoblins, Gandalf declares aimed shot, Soldiers declare heavy strikes against hobgoblins (2x damage)
Hobgoblins > Party > Soldiers => 1 soldier is pushed off and dies => Gimli and Legolas push off ladder, kills 4 hobgoblins and stuns 4, Aragorn & Gandalf kill 3 hobgoblins => soldiers kill 1 hobgoblin
Round 6: Aragorn declares cleaving group of hobgoblins, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf declare aimed shots, hobgoblins declare pushing Aragorn off wall, soldiers declare shield wall (+2 AC against front)
Party > Soldiers > Hobgoblins => 4 hobgoblins dead, 1 wounded => Aragorn hit, but saves against being pushed off
Round 7: Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf declare aimed shots, soldiers declare shield wall, Hobgoblins declare pushing Aragorn off
Party = Soldiers > Hobgoblins => 4 hobgoblins dead, 1 wounded
Round 8: Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf declare aimed shots, soldiers declare shield wall, Hobgoblins declare pulling soldier off
Hobgoblins > Soldiers > Party => Last 4 hobgoblins dead
HP after Combat: Aragorn 33/36, Gimli 27/36, 7 soldiers dead
Easy to declare special attacks if there are a lot of targets or the terrain is advantageous. The enemies had little chance with their own special attacks, due to high AC. The archers were quite effective, but mostly due to numbers.
Encounter 2: Frodo and Sam vs 3 Giant Spiders => In web-covered cave => Distance 90 ft.
Round 1: Frodo and Sam declare aimed shots at spider’s eyes
Party wins initiative => Sam hits spider => spiders advance
Round 2: Frodo and Sam declare aimed shots at spider’s eyes, spiders declare web walking (doubled movement)
Party wins initiative => 2 spiders hit => spiders advance, one twice as fast
Round 3: Frodo and Sam declare chopping off spider’s legs, farther away spiders declare web walking (doubled movement)
Party loses initiative => Sam hit and fails poison save => dead => Frodo chops off 1 spider’s front legs (stunned 2 turns, half move, -2 to ATK and AC)
Round 4: Frodo declares jumping on top of one spider (+4 to AC) and attack
Party loses initiative => Frodo hit, but saves against poison => declaration lost (damage = 5)
Round 5: Frodo declares jumping on top of one spider (+4 to AC) and attack
Party loses initiative => spiders miss => Frodo jumps on top of spider and hits it
Round 6: Frodo declares executing spider he’s on top of, spider declares throwing him off
Party wins initiative => Frodo misses => stays on top of spider, spiders miss
Round 7: Frodo declares executing spider he’s on top of, spider declares throwing him off
Simultaneous initiative => Frodo kills spider, but is thrown off (stunned for 1 round)
Round 8:
Spiders miss
Round 9: Frodo declares finishing off another weakened spider, Spider declares jump attack (pins victim to ground, +4 to ATK)
Simultaneous initiative => Frodo kills spider and dodges its body
Round 10: Frodo declares breaking hind legs of last spider (the one with cut front legs)
Party wins initiative => Frodo hits, spider falls to the ground and can’t move anymore (goes last in initiative)
Round 11: Frodo declares finishing off spider
Last spider dead
HP after Combat: Frodo 20/25, Sam dead
Frodo got away with a lot of stunts here due to his high AC, but he also had two moments where he could easily have died due to the spider’s stunt. The spider rolled pretty bad attack rolls overall as well, which helped the party. The spiders utilizing their environment (web walking) allowed them to avoid ranged attacks and kill Sam. Pretty fun to get more lose with what enemies can do (though it should always make sense for the situation at hand).
Encounter 3: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf vs Wyvern => Distance 90 ft.
Round 1: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf declare aimed attacks at the wyvern’s wings
Party wins initiative => Legolas hits (movement halved, descending) => Wyvern descends
Round 2: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf declare aimed attacks at the wyvern’s wings
Party loses initiative => Wyvern lands and advances on foot => Aragorn hits (flight prevented)
Round 3: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf declare aimed attacks at the wyvern’s head (2x dmg)
Party loses initiative => Wyvern closes to melee, Gimli & Legolas hit, Legolas fails save and dies => Party misses
Round 4: Gimli declares dashing under Wyvern and attack belly, Aragorn declares climbing on top and hack at tail, Gandalf declare aimed attacks at head (2x dmg)
Party wins initiative => Gimli under belly (+2 to ATK and AC), Aragorn climbs on top but misses tail, Gandalf hits head
Aragorn hit but saves, Gimli hit
Round 5: Wyvern declares dragging Gimli out from under it, Gandalf declares aimed attacks at head (2x dmg)
Party wins initiative => only Gandalf hits
Gimli grabbed by Wyvern’s maw and held in the air, hit by tail and fails save => dead
Round 6: Wyvern declares smacking Aragorn off it, Gandalf declares aimed attacks at head (2x dmg)
Party loses initiative => Gandalf hit, Aragorn hit but manages to hold one => hits Wyvern
Round 7: Gandalf declares attack at the Wyvern’s eye, Wyvern declares smacking Aragorn off it
Party loses initiative => Aragorn hit and falls off Wyvern’s back, saves against being stunned from fall => party misses
Round 8: Gandalf declares attack at the Wyvern’s eye
Party wins initiative => Gandalf kills the Wyvern with a dagger to the eye
HP after Combat: Aragorn 25/36, Gandalf 4/9, Legolas dead, Gimli dead
The party rolled really poorly, while the Wyvern rolled great. Gandalf only survived due to a lucky low damage roll and then the only miss from the wyvern. He’s also pretty much the only one who achieved anything with his aimed shots. Taking out the wings helped the party a bit at the beginning by delaying the wyvern, but not much due to terrible attack rolls. The wyvern had pretty good success with its declared attacks for the most part, letting it negate the party’s maneuvers.
Summary: Quite a fun system, though some care needs to be taken. Just going for double damage each time is very tempting (especially with ranged attacks), but I don’t think it is that much of an issue, considering the risk. There is also a focus on maiming and disabling enemies, which could get really nasty when used by the enemies, but that’s what saves are for.
Just for fun, here’s a short test of basically the inverse, effects triggering when PCs take damage. Didn’t really think much about the effects of the various classes, just what makes sense in my mind.
Fighters get an attack in retaliation, Thieves get a save against other attacks in the round, MUs can cast a spell, Clerics regain a spell
Characters: Randomly generated, all level 3
Magicus: HP 4/8, AC 8, MV 40, +1 ATK, +1 DMG, Daggers (d4)
Fighterino: HP 10/19, AC 0, MV 10, +1 ATK, +1 DMG, +1 INI, +1 AC, +1 HP, Sword (d8) + Shield
Clerica: HP 7/14, AC 0, MV 10, +2 ATK, +2 DMG, +1 INI, +1 AC, +1 HP, Warhammer (d6) + Shield
Thieffer: HP 1/9, AC 6, MV 30, +1 ATK, +1 DMG, +2 INI, +2 AC, Sword (d8), Short Bow (d6)
The group encounters a group of 10 orcs in the hallway of the dungeon => Distance 80 ft.
Clerica casts Bless on the party. The party kills 3 orcs, then the orcs hit Fighterino and Clerica. Fighterino gets an attack and kills the orc, Clerica regains a spell and casts Cure Wounds on herself next round. Another orc dies. 3 orcs attack the backline of Thiefffer and Magicus from a secret door. Both are hit, Thieffer gets a save against the second attack that would hit him, but fails and is reduced to 1 HP. Magicus casts Sleep in response and puts the flanking orcs out of commission. Clerica gets hit again, but her spells are full, so no benefit. 3 orcs die, two of them sleeping. Clerica heals herself again, then she and Fighterino get hit again, Fighterino counters. The last sleeping orc dies, then the remaining two orcs fighting the front line are killed.
HP after Combat: Magicus 4/8, Fighterino 10/19, Clerica 7/14, Thieffer 1/9
Pretty fun system, makes things more dynamic. The effects probably need to be curated a bit more. The fighter one is simple and effective, no issues there in my opinion. Could have it unlimited, 1/round or scaling with level. The thief one is also fine, maybe the save should also be for the triggering attack, though it scales pretty strongly with level once saves get better (but thieves have bad AC and HP anyway, so eh). The cleric one is probably too strong, maybe limit it to 1st level spells? The MU one is also really strong, as long as the MU has an effective spell. Maybe limit it to spells that target one creature or the MU.
