[CONAN] GM's Closet

[Supplement Four]

A Couple of Horse Thoughts



Let me direct your attention to page 19 of Tito's Trading Post. There, you will find adivce and rules for using mounts in your game. I went back and gave an NPC I had created a skill point into Handle Animal because of these rules. They make a lot of sense, and in using them, they turn Horses and other mounts into something other than tireless means of transporting characters from one point to another. With these rules, you'll have to plan your route. If you run out of food or water for your mount, the poor thing may perish. And, these rules also give you another reason to keep some points in Survival.

 

[Spectator]

I like the concept of better initiative on mounts.

The ride skill modifier on a 1-to-1 base sounds a lot excessive, maybe a 2-to-1 conversion (10 skill pts = 5 nish mod?).

There should be advantage while riding, that's why horse still have a place in modern Police departments.

It is incredibly easy to wallop a ratfink's head with a billy club when you sit 5 feet up

 

[Supplement Four]

The ride skill modifier on a 1-to-1 base sounds a lot excessive, maybe a 2-to-1 conversion (10 skill pts = 5 nish mod?).

I thought about that. I don't think I'd want to introduce a clunky rule, though, where I had to divide a skill. I'd just use the default in the book, if that were the case.

As far as high Ride modifiers, all that does is skew the mounted to acting first. And, as you said, shouldn't mounted characters have that advantage? Shouldn't it be likely that they go first?


EDIT: I'm back and forth on the mounted initiative, so I removed it from above.

 

[Supplement Four]

I rolled a 1, then I got GUSTUD!



You're in combat. Oh no! Your roll a natural one on your attack die. You are now gustud (pronounced gust-ed). A gust from the winds of fate blow down upon you.

The natural one indicates that you have over-reached, zigged when you should have zagged, or otherwise opened yourself up, just for a milisecond, to free special attack by your enemy.

What kind of special attack? When you are gustud, your opponent rolls rolls 1d6 on the chart. Then, your opponent may attempt the special attack routine indicated on the chart, if he wants to. Many of the special attacks on the chart can turn out to harm the person attempting the special attack, so there will be occasions when you are gustud but your opponent decides not to take advantage of the situation. When this occurs, your natural one simply means that you missed your enemy, opened yourself up for the special attack, then closed the opportunity during the melee before your enemy could take advantage of the situation.

Every gustud maneuver usually allows the object of the special attack to perform an Attack of Opportunity on the attacker before the special maneuver is attempted. When a character is gustud, this is a special situation where the character is not allowed the usual Attack of Opportunity (not unlike the Weapon Breakage rule on pg. 174 of the 2E rulebook).

 1d6
-----
  1  Grapple
  2  Unarmed Strike
  3  Sunder
  4  Trip
  5  Unarmed Kick
  6  Disarm

An easy way to remember the chart? Just look at the first letter of each result. A character can only be gustud as a result of a melee attack throw. Ranged attack throws are immune to the rule.

Grapple: Your foe may initiate a grapple.

Unarmed Strike: Your foe may make an unarmed strike doing non-lethal damage if successful. If your foe takes a -4 penalty on the attack, then a successful strike will do lethal damage.

Sunder: Your foe may attempt to sunder your weapon or shield (his choice).

Trip: Your foe may attempt to trip you.

Unarmed Kick: Kicks are covered in the Barbaric Warrior supplement. If you do not have that supplement, consider this gustud result to be exactly like result #2.

Disarm: Your foe may attempt to disarm your weapon.







EXCITING COMBAT!

Now I want you to look at this clip from the 2010 film Centurion.

Your combats can reflect this kind of chaos, and your Conan combat can be as interesting as that in the clip. First, use all the options in the game. Combat maneuvers can turn a combat on its ear and keep all involved glued to the action. Then, I suggest adding the gustud rule to your game. That will certainly spice things up.

Remember these other excitements to Conan melee combat:

A natural 20 will always indicate a Critical Threat.

A natural 1 is not only an automatic miss, regardless if the total with modifier hit, but if you use the rule above, a natural 1 will also indicate that the character is gustud.

When attack equals Parry AC exactly, the Weapon Breakage rule is triggered. See page 174.

When attack equals Parry AC exacly, the Lock Weapons maneuver may be initiatied.

Parry AC is adjusted by the Weapon Length rules. See page 174.

When total attack is less than half the opponent's Dodge AC, then the Dance Aside maneuver may be triggered.

When total attack is less than half the opponent's Parry AC, then the Riposte maneuver may be triggered.





Throw all of the special circumstances together (and I haven't even mentioned being flatfooted or maneuvers like the Feint or Hooking Parry or Shield Slam--which is different from the Shield Bash), along with the gustud rule above, there will be no telling where combat takes you. It will be chaotic, gruesome, gritty, very Conan-esque, and very fun!

 

[Supplement Four]

One Way to Use the Dance Aside Combat Maneuver



Check out the Dance Aside combat maneuver on page 205 of the 2E core rulebook. A combatant is qualified to use Dance Aside if he has DEX 13+, and the Dance Aside is triggered when your foe, in a melee attack, ends up with a total attack sum that is less than half the combatant's Dodge AC. You have to be using the Dodge defense in order to take advantage of the Dance Aside, of course.

When the Dance Aside is triggered, the combatant is given an immediate action in the form of a 5 foot step, simulating the character nimbly dancing out of the way of his opponent's attack.

The Dance Aside maneuver is a perfect match for characters with high DEX and Dodge AC scores and for those who use reach weapons.

Let me show you how the Dance Aside can prevent an opponent from attacking you: In melee combat, use your normal 5 foot step at the end of your turn (if you're using a reach weapon, you'l probably use it at the beginning of your turn in order to bring your weapon to bear on y our oppoent).

Next, on your opponent's turn, he will have to use his 5 foot step in order close range to attack you (you wouldn't do this if your opponent used a reach weapon, of course). If your opponent gets more than one attack, either by using two weapons or by his level, you can avoid the second attack (and possibly more attacks) if the Dance Aside is triggered.





For example, consider a Cimmerian in melee combat with a Vanir warrior. The Cimmerian fights with broadsword and Shield, while the Vanir is using two axes--one in each hand. The Vanir is 6th level, so if he uses a Full Attack routine, he will get 3 attacks on the Cimmerian (two with his main weapon and a third attack for the off-hand weapon).

On the Cimmerian's turn, he slices away with his broadsword, then, after his attack, he uses his 5 foot step to move five feet back away from the Vanir.

Now, it's the Vanir's turn. The first thing the Vanir will do is close range, using his 5 foot step to do so, because, otherwise, the Vanir cannot attack the Cimmerian (who is, at the start of the Vanir's turn, 10 feet away). The Cimmerian will be using his Dodge defense for any incoming blows. The Vanir starts a Full Attack Action in order to get all three of his attacks at the Cimmerian, but, as fate would have it, the Vanir's first attack is less than the Cimmerian's Dodge AC.

Right then, because it's an immediate action, the Dance Aside is triggered, and the Cimmerian is allowed to move 5 feet in any direction he wishes. The Cimmerian again steps straight back, away from the Vanir, which puts him now at 10 feet from the Vanir. And, the Vanir has used all of his movement for the round. Therefore, the Dance Aside maneuver has saved the Cimmerian from all three attacks that round: The first Vanir attack failed and triggered the Dance Aside, which made the Vanir's other two attacks impossible to attempt.

Of course, you can't control when the Dance Aside will occur. But, you can do things to raise your Dodge AC to make it easier for foes to roll half or less.

This example turns out even better if the Cimmerian is using a reach weapon. Replace the shield and broadsword above with a war spear. On the Cimmerian's turn, he takes a 5 foot step backwards, increasing range to the Vanir, in order to be able to attack with the war spear.

On the Vanir's turn, the redhair steps inside the weapon's guard, recovering that 5 feet, in order to make his Full Attack and take his three blows. Except, as I mention above, let's say that the first of these blows triggers the Cimmerian's Dance Aside maneuver. The Cimmerian immediately moves, and the Vanir has no more movement to recover that distance and deliver his blows.

Now, it's the Cimmerian's turn again, and he's starting the scenario at 10 feet from his foe. The Cimmerian can attack, using his reach weapon, then use his five foot step to increase range yet again to 15 feet. The Vanir, now, is robbed of using a Full Attack action because the Vanir must use more movement to close distance with the Cimmerian. Thus, the Vanir is allowed only a single standard attack.

Over the two rounds, the Dance Aside has prevented 5 attacks on the Cimmerian.

Not bad.

 

[Supplement Four]

Don't Ignore Grapple Maneuvers



Some, big, honkin foe is splintering chairs and tables with a greatsword--swings that are meant for you. All you have is a flint knife you made with your Survival skill.

What do you do?

You grapple the SOB. Yes, you're opening yourself up to an Attack of Opportunity (so make damn sure that you're successful with your grapple), but just one. Make sure you can take one hit. Because once you grapple your foe, you've taken away his attack advantage--his weapon. Only light weapons can be used while grappleing. Your foe will have to drop his greatsword in order to manage you and your grapple.

With a successful grapple, you've evened the odds a bit.

The next time your weapon is ineffective against a foe because of his armor, or you know that it is likely your foe will kill you faster than you can kill him, remember the grapple. Even the playing field. Take away your foe's advantage.

This is easy to do with 2E's change of the Grapple Rules to a single dice throw. The grapple rules are quite easy to manage. Most of the time, you're just rolling an unarmed attack.

And, all of a sudden, all of those grapple and unarmed based Feats that you've been ignoring find a lot more value to the character. For example, Improved Grapple will allow you to attempt the grapple without suffering an Attack of Opportunity. Tough As Nails, from the Players Guide, will make you impervious to strikes that cause non-leathal damage, forcing your opponent to take a -4 penalty on his attack throw against you in order to deliver lethal damage with is hand-to-hand blows. There are other Feats like this that can give you the advantage.

Think of it. A character with two daggers, who is good at grappling, is a formidable character in this game. He doesn't need to be wrapped in the best armor using the biggest sword. The grappler with daggers can get you in a hold then use the Coup de Grace rules to slit his foe's throat.

And, the foe probably won't see it coming.

 

[Spectator]

Just had one of those, "oh shit" moments when you posted about grappling. Kinda makes the unarmed Darfari a hell of an opponent!


Thanks!

 

[Supplement Four]

Tough As Nails


This is an interesting Feat that first appears in THE ROAD OF KINGS and again in PLAYER'S GUIDE TO THE HYBORIAN AGE. It's a simple Feat that makes the character impervious to subdual damage.

Completely impervious? I like the super-hero effect where our hero uses his stone mug to crack a bad guy across the face. The bad guy takes the blow but then just grins. Our hero knows that he's in trouble (and, if this scene happened in my game, I'd allow that smile to act as the bad guy's Demoralize Other action using is Intimidation skill).

That's what the Feat is trying to accomplish--that kind of cliche that we see in movies (Remember when James Bond smacked Jaws across the face in The Spy Who Loved Me, and Jaws just smiled back at him? It's happened in a ton of other films too.)

But...completely impervious?

That means that there is no way that the character can be knocked unconscious by beating him?

You can consider this, but I think the Feat needs to be tempered a bit. You don't want to neuter the Feat so much that it won't be attractive to players. At the same time, I think the Feat should provide resistance to nonlethal damage without making the character completely impervious.

What's coming to my mind right now is this: Tough as Nails halves any subdual damage applied to the character.

Therefore, the Feat is still attractive in that it effectively doubles a character's hit points with regard to nonleathal damage, but, if a crowd with clubs comes beating on the character, he can still be knocked out.

I also think that a prerequisite of CON 13+ should be associated with the Feat. It doesn't make sense, does it, that the Feat could be taken by a CON 7 character, and he would be impervious to nonlethal damage.

I should draw to your attention, though, that Tough As Nails is not an easy Feat to acquire. It requires both Diehard and Endurance. So, you may think that, since the character has to spend three Feats and be 3rd level to get the Feat, then that's enough. Still, a CON 7 character could do all that and be an unexplainable 100% resistant to nonlethal damage. I think the CON 13+ requirement and the effect of half damage are the way to go.

If you've got a different idea, then let me hear it. I might like your idea better.

 

[Supplement Four]

GM's! What to Remember About Combat


There's a lot going on in this game. It takes time to master. Each of the thoughts expressed here are covered in more detail up thread. But, as combat is happening in your game, remember these details....



Result of the d20 attack throw....

Natural 20? CRITICAL THREAT
Natural 1? GUSTUD (House Rule)

Attack = Parry AC? SUNDER and LOCK WEAPONS (Remember Weapon Length can modify Parry AC).

Attack < Half Parry AC? RIPOSTE (4th level for Soldiers. 6th+ level for other classes).

Attack < Half Dodge AC? DANCE ASIDE (Defender DEX 13+)

 

[Supplement Four]

When the Attack Roll Exactly Equals Parry AC



The game gives us two effects when a character is using his Parry defense and an attacker rolls that AC exactly on his attack throw. On page 174, there's the optional Weapon Breakage rule that turns a successful attack into a successl Sunder. Then, on page 209, there's the Lock Weapons combat maneuver.

How do you resolve these rules?

Here's how I do it.

Weapon Breakage: Whenever an attack roll totals the exact amount of the defender's Parry AC, I go directly to the Weapon Breakage rule, allowing the attacker to sunder the defender's shield or weapon. Regular damage is not done, in accordance to the rule. Instead, the attack is considered a successful sunder. If the defender has a shield, then the sunder is against his shield. Otherwise, the sunder is applied to the defender's weapon.

Lock Weapons: Note that Lock Weapons is a combat maneuver and not an optional rule like the above. This means that the players have a choice in implementing the maneuver. For example, when a Dance Aside is triggered, the move from the Dance Aside is not forced. It's the player's option whether to use the Dance Aside or not. The same is true with the Lock Weapons maneuver. It is triggered when Parry AC = Attack, or Attack = Parry AC. It's important to note that the description of the maneuver specifically states either condition. This means that, when Attack = Parry AC, that either the attacker or defender may use the Lock Weapons maneuver.

In other words, either character may use the Lock Weapons maneuver when Attack = Parry AC. Either one can implement the maneuver, but both have to decline it in order for it not to be used.

When this maneuver is triggered, I first go through the sunder from the Weapon Breakage rule above, then I defer to the attacker, first, to see if that character wishes to use the Lock Weapons maneuver. If he doesn't, then the defending character is given a choice of using the Lock Weapons maneuver.

Note that if the Weapon Breakage rule destroys the defender's weapon, then the Lock Weapons maneuver is not triggered.

Also note that it can happen that the defender suffers the sunder against his shield due to the Weapon Breakage rule then is forced to lock weapons with his main weapon if that maneuver is used.



Procedure--

1. Weapon Breakage. Attacker sunders shield or weapon.
2. Lock Weapons. Attacker's choice, then Defender's choice. Both have to decline not to use the maneuver.

 

[Supplement Four]

 

[Supplement Four]

SPECIAL ATTACKS AND THE FIRST ROUND


The first round is an excellent time to try a special attack. For example, the Disarm maneuver usually gives the target of the Disarm an Attack of Opportunity on you before you attempt the disarm.

Well, if you win initiative and are close enough to your foe to attack (usually 30 feet), you can move to your target and attempt to disarm him without the foe getting the benefit of the Attack of Opportunity on you. Flatfooted characters cannot make AoOs. In addition, you catch your foe at AC 10, making it easier to disarm him.

You can change the fight conditions right at the outset, with the result of your character being the only one armed!



A victim of this type of attack--somone who loses his weapon while flatfooted--should try to grapple with his foe. See the comments I make on grapple earlier in the thread. Yes, you just lost your weapon, and yes, you'll suffer an Attack of Opportunity by your foe--as a double whammy early in the combat with your foe taking your weapon away AND getting an extra attack on you--but if you are successful, you have negated his advantage over you for the rest of the combat because only light weapons can be used while grappling. Your foe will probably drop his weapon because it hinders him too much fighting your grapple. Thus, you've neutralized his advantage.

 

[Supplement Four]

GETTING CREATIVE ON THE BATTLEFIELD

In the recent 2011 Conan The Barbarian film, there's a moment during a battle on the Hornet (Artus' ship) where Conan grabs the sailing rig, glides across the deck, and slams, feet first, into a bad guy, knocking him over the rail and into the sea.

How would you recreate this in the game?

Well, the Bull Rush is a combat maneuver used to knock a foe backwards. The Use The Battlefield maneuver is designed to take advantage of different aspects of the battlefield in order to make a special maneuver.

If a player wants to attempt a move like Conan did in the film, don't say, "No". Let him try! This is where having a good command of the rules in the core rulebook will pay off.

Combine those two maneuvers (which isn't hard to do, since the Bull Rush is a standard action, and the Use The Battlefield option is a free action designed to be combined with other actions) and let the fun begin! Swinging on the yard-arm is covered by Use The Battlefield. Knocking the foe off the side is covered by the Bull Rush.

Allow the character a DC 20 Tumble check to grab the yard-arm and swing towards the target (You might even make it a DC 10 or DC 15 because it looked fairly easy in the movie). If he fails, the target gets an Attack of Opportunity on him, per the Use The Battlefield rule. If he succeeds, proceed as if the character had just made a successful Bull Rush against the target, but give the character a +2 circumstance bonus for successful use of the Use The Battlefield maneuver (per the rule).

Step 1. The Yard Arm Swing. DC 15 Tumble check to simulate grabbing the yard-arm and swinging towards the foe. Success means to move to step 2. Failure means that the foe gets an Attack of Opportunity on the character, and the character cannot Dodge or Parry this attack since he is hanging from the yard arm (effectively AC 10).

Step 2. Contact With The Target. Character gets +2 on Opposed STR check. Success means to move to step 3. Failure means the target does not move and the character falls prone to the ground in front of the foe, having knocked into him and slid off of him as if he were a brick wall.

Step 3. Success! The foe is pushed five feet backwards, over the rail, and into the sea.

 

[Supplement Four]

COMMON SENSE


GMs should strive to enforce the spirit of the game rather than the letter of the rules. Always use common sense.

For example, consider a situation where a Cimmerian and a Pict start a combat encounter. The Pict wins initiative, and the GM describes how the NPC bends low at the waist, growling at the PC Cimmerian, showing the savage's stone sharpened teeth, all the while circling the PC as a fierce animal would around prey.

This is not a wasted action. In fact, the Pict is using his first action to Demoralize the Cimmerian, using the Intimidate skill.

Rolls are made, and the Cimmerian is now intimidated by the Pict.

Now, it's the bottom of the first round--the Cimmerian's turn to act. The demoralize penalty on the PC is -2 to his attack throws, saves, and ability checks. The player says that the Cimmerian will charge the Pict.

Should the player's described action be allowed?

Of course, the answer can only be made by your game's GM. There's nothing in the rules stating that Cimmerian cannot charge his foe at this point in the combat.

But...does that make sense? The Cimmerian is intimated by his foe. He should at least be paused by the demonic looking savage. As GM, I would rule that the Cimmerian cannot charge, or even approach and attack, the Pict due to the fact that the Cimmerian is, indeed, intimidated and demoralized by the foe.

The Cimmerian isn't running off, but this should be considered a light version of a Fear spell. You're not going to rush up to fight something that is scaring the hell out of you.

Give it a round or two. Let the initial shock of this savage wear off, then, once the demoralized penalities are gone, allow the player to do as he wishes again. If the Cimmerian is attacked while demoralized, then, sure, the PC can defend himself, and combat continues as normal. But, I just don't see an intimidated character rushing up to the thing that scares him.

Again, it's the GM's call, of course. But, that's the way I'd play it.

 

[Supplement Four]

TERROR OF THE UNKNOWN


This is a combat rule buried in the back of the 2E Core Rulebook in the Bestiary chapter, pg. 376. And, basically, it says that a character may actually become quite afraid of some unnatural beast that he encounters. The rule describes the saves uses to overcome this conditon, but it's important to note that the rule should be used anytime a character encounters a monster he has not encountered before. We're not talking about usual beasts here, like wolves, snakes, and bears. No, we're taking about those eldritch beasties like demons, fiends, ghosts, and the undead.

Barbarians have a special ability that works with Terror called Crimson Mist. And, it's interesting to note that the rule can be implemented even with normal beasts, if that beast is extremely rare and unheard of in a foreign land. For example, mammoths could scare the heck out of a person who's never seen or heard of one before. So, there may be special occasions where the rule is used with non-eldritch beasties.

 

[Supplement Four]

THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE RIGHT JOB


Another thing I like about this game is the way the game mechanics flow together to give characters a real reason for picking different weapons to match different physical capability.

The Finesse attack style is favored by characters with low STR, and only easily maneuverable weapons can be used with this style.

For example, a short sword is a Finesse weapon. A big, honkin' scimitar is not. Both do 1d8 damage.

This gives characters a real, mechanical reason to use a short sword over a scimitar if the character is a low STR, unarmored city dweller. You don't see many of them dragging around scimitars on their sides. No, it's the lighter, more subtle short sword that you'd expect to see. And, outside of straight roleplaying, there's a mechanical reason to choose the short sword over the scimitar.





The same goes for the Armor Piercing system in the game. Each weapon is rated for its ability to punch through armor. The cutlass is rated at AP 2 and does 1d10 damage. The warhammer is rated at AP 7 and does 1d6 damage.

Given those game stats, it's easy to see the mechanical reason that pirates would favor the cutlass, and you wouldn't see warhammers on a sailing vessel unless one was kept around to knock down doors.

The cutlass is only AP 2, and thus, is not every effective at cutting through thick armor. A character with STR 16 (+3) will have total armor piercing capability of AP 5 with this weapon. A foe wearing breastplate and mail hauberk has armor rated at DR 9. This means, on a successful hit, the character will do: 1d10 weapon damage + 3 STR modifier - 9 Armor resistance, or 1d10 -6 damage. That's 0-4 points of damage, with a 60% chance, per hit, of landing 0 points of damage (glancing blow that reflects off the armor).

On the other hand, take the same character with a warhammer. The weapon is rated at AP 7, which gives the character a total armor piercing capability of 10. This means, against the same foe in the breastplate and mail hauberk,
the character will do damage, on a successful hit, equal to: 1d6 weapon damage + 3 STR modifier - 4 Armor resistance, or 1d6 -1. That's 0-5 points of damage with only a 17% chance of scoring 0 damage.

Obviously, the warhammer is the better weapon against a heavily armored foe.

This is why pirates will favor the cutlass--because their opponents are typically not armored and usually other swabbies from another sea vessel. And, the warhammer will be found more often on the large battlefield, where hordes of heavily armored knights are going at each other.

I love how this game uses the mechanics to influence weapon choice and doesn't just rely on roleplaying.

 

[Supplement Four]

 

[Supplement Four]

FRIENDS WILL BE FRIENDS


This is a tactic that works well if you've got a high level character and a low level character working together. It's also a good tactic if one of the group is low on hit points where a another single hit may kill him. Using what I describe here can still make that character participate in the combat but also be protected from attack.

The first thing you'll want to do is make sure that the two characters act together during the same Initiative count. That's not always necessary, but, in many situations, it can be desireable. The Delay action can be used to align the nish counts for the two characters.

Second, make sure that the weak character is equipped with a reach weapon.

Then, what happens is that the weaker character mirrors the stronger character's movement. Let the stronger character lead and face the foe. The stronger character will engage the foe normally, but the weaker character will stand behind the stronger, 10' from the foe, using a reach weapon through the stronger character's square.

The weaker character will not attack normally. Instead, the weaker character will use the Aid Another maneuver. All the weaker character has to do, using that maneuver, is make an attack vs. AC 10. If he succeeds, he gives the stronger character either a +2 bonus on his next attack or a +2 bonus to his armor class, at the player's option. There's no downside if the weaker character fails to hit AC 10, and the weaker character is protected from attack by the stonger character that stands between him and the foe.

So, a lower level character can really help out by giving that attack or AC bonus to his partner, only having to hit an AC 10. It's like always catching the foe flatfooted.

And, the weaker character is usually protected from attack by the companion that fights in-between.

 

[Supplement Four]

 

[Supplement Four]

CONAN COMBAT ANALYSIS



Here, I am taking some text from one of Howard's Conan stories and translating the scene with combat game mechanics. The story? Beyond the Black River. The situation? Conan and his companion, Balthus, are in the Pictish Wilderness, attempting to make it to the river. The two are being tracked by Pict savages, and as the scene starts, are, indeed, ambushed.

Howard's text is written in bold.

Balthus, I'm guessing, is a 2nd level Aquilonian Borderer. The Pict warriors are 1st level barbarians, per the core rulebook. Conan is an advanced character, multiclassed as a 1 Thief/ 2 Pirate/ 2 Soldier and at least a 10th level Barbarian (at least a 15th level character), in this story as the tale takes place late in Conan's career, not too long before Conan siezes the throne of Aquilonia.



In Beyond The Black River, Howard writes:

He wheeled an ducked as a bowstring twanged. Something like a white flash of light streaked through the bushes. Balthus knew it was an arrow. Then with a tigerish bound Conan was through the bushes. Balthus caught the gleam of steel as he whirled his sword, and heard a death scream. The next instant he had broken through the bushes after the Cimmerian.

A Pict with a shattered skull lay face-down on the ground, his fingers spasmodically clawing at the grass. Half a dozen others were swarming about Conan, swords and axes lifted. They had cast away thier bows, useless at such deadly close quarters. Their lower jaws were painted white contrasting vividly with their dark faces, and the designs on their muscular breasts differed from any Balthus had ever seen.





The combat starts with a Pict ambush. The Picts have successfully tracked Balthus and Conan, and both the heroes have failed their Spot and/or Listen checks. The Picts act during the Surprise round. They get only one action. There are seven Picts. One uses the surprise to fire his bow. He was probably at the front of the Pict's tracking line. The others use their Surprise action to spread out and get into position to take the two interlopers.

The bow is fired at Conan, and at this point, both Conan and Balthus are caught flatfooted. But, Conan has a special ability as a Barbarian classed character: Uncanny Dodge. This allows 4th level and higher Barbarians to use their Dodge defence, even when the character is caught flatfooted. The first sentence from the story quote, "He wheeled an ducked as a bowstring twanged," is Conan using his Uncanny Dodge ability.

The other Picts, behind the lead bowman, do not have a clear shot at either Conan or Balthus from their positions behind the bowman. In the least, Conan and Balthus have cover from the bush, so any othe bow shots that hit will still have a 20% chance of missing, per the concealment rule. This is the most likely reason the other 1st level Picts chose to move to a better combat position rather than waste an arrow trying to hit their concealed enemies.

When the surprise round is over (The Pict bowman fires and misses; the other Picts use movement to get into combat position), initiative is thrown for the surprised characters. Conan rolls highest and acts first, even before any of the Picts. "Then with a tigerish bound Conan was through the bushes. Balthus caught the gleam of steel as he whirled his sword, and heard a death scream." Conan moves at the closest Pict, the bowman, and attacks with his sword, killing the bowman Pict with that first blow. Conan either rolled a critical hit, doing more than 20 points of damage, at which the Pict failed the Massive Damage save, or, more likely, Conan's damage was more than the Picts 1st level hit points. Note that the Pict isn't killed outright. "A Pict with a shattered skull lay face-down on the ground, his fingers spasmodically clawing at the grass." This Pict has been knocked into the negative hit point region. He'll be dead soon, but he's not quite dead yet.

The other six Pict initiative scores must all be after Conan's total but before Balthus' as when Balthus moves through the bushes to the fight on round one, he sees all six Picts surrounding Conan. "Half a dozen others were swarming about Conan, swords and axes lifted."

Conan must have been between Balthus and the Picts when the combat started. This is probably why the Pict bowman fired at Conan instead of the Aquilonian. And, Balthus is probably a short distance away from Conan because the two were conversing just before this scene started--and Balthus does not attack on round one. Balthus is probably more than 30 feet from Conan's fight because he enters the clearing, sees the dead bowman Pict, but doesn't attack. In game terms, Balthus moved 31-60 feet, as a double move action. The distances could be much shorter, too, as this is thick wilderness. Movement is halved in disagreeable terrain. Balthus probably moved 16-30 feet as his double move.

Conan may or may not have had his sword readied at the start of the scenario. If he had it in his hand, then nothing is changed. If he did not have it in his hand, he could easily pull the weapon as part of his Move action toward the Picts.

Note the part about the Picts discarding their bows: "They had cast away thier bows, useless at such deadly close quarters." In these close quarters, the Picts would open themselves up to Attacks of Opportunity from their foes, so rather than give Conan and Balthus free attacks, they've chosen to drop their bows and pull their melee weapons.

The Picts, surrounding Conan, gain two benefits. First, the flankers gain a +2 attack bonus against the Cimmerian. That will be at least two of the six Picts, but could be as many as all of them with each Pict partnering with another to form a flank. Second, the Picts also gain an attack bonus from their numerical advantage, using the Multiple Opponent's rule. The Pict directly in front of Conan gains no bonus, but the other five gain a +1 to +5 modifier to hit. This means that the flanking Pict directly behind Conan is attacking with a +7 bonus modifier.

Conan probably Parries the blows of these Picts, using his Parry AC, because his Dodge AC is penalized -2 due to being surrounded (it's harder to dodge in that circumstance).

Conan, though, is wearing armor, as indicated earlier in the story. He's wearing a mail shirt and a helmet that have been sound dampened. By the book, this gives Conan damage reduction of DR 6. Eventhough the Picts may hit, Conan is not taking much damage, if any. His armor is protecting him. In addition, Picts use primitive quality weapons, and, thus, there is a chance per successful hit that the weapon will break.



...Summary of the Combat Thus Far...

Surprise Round: Pict bowman fires at Conan as the other six move into position. Conan and Balthus are flatfooted, but Conan uses Uncanny Dodge to avoid the bowshot.

Initiative: Conan wins nish, followed by all seven of the Picts, with Balthus acting last.

Round One: Conan moves, attacks, and kills the Pict bowman. The remaining six Pict surround, flank, and attack Conan with flanking and multiple opponent bonuses. Conan either Parries or Dodges blows. Even if/when hit, Conan's armor keeps him from taking much damage. Balthus moves last, doing a double move to enter the combat clearing, seeing the downed bowman and Conan fighting the rest.



Now...we move on to Round Two.

The story is told from Balthus' point of view. Round two starts with Conan attacking one of his foes. Since the Cimmerian is not moving more than 5 feet this round, Conan can use his multiple attacks. If he's no higher than a 10th level Barbarian in this scene, he gets two attacks per round by taking a Full Round action. In addition, if he has the Cleave Feat, he may be able to take a third attack this round. Conan has a broadsword that does 1d10 damage (a Critical hit is checked on a 19 or 20, that's a 10% chance per swing). Given Conan's game stats, we can surmise that his STR score is somewhere around 22-25 in this story. That's a +6 or +7 STR bonus. Let's call it a +6 bonus, and if Conan uses the broadsword two-handed, he's doing damage of 1d10 + 9. That's a minimum of 10 points of damage. These 1st level Picts average 6 HP each. This means that, on every hit, Conan will kill his target. I tell you this to put into mechancial context the description of Conan's actions below.

It's a good assumption that Conan kills at least 2, possibly 3, Picts at the top of Round Two.

Then, most of the remaining Picts continue their fight with Conan, most either missing due to Conan's Dodge or Parry, or not damaging him as their primitive weapons strike his armor.

But, one of the Picts--probably one from Conan's rear flank--changes target and throws his axe at the new entry into the combat, Balthus.



One of them hurled his axe at Balthus and rushed afer it with lifted knife. Balthus ducked and then caught the wrist that drove the knife licking at his throat. They went to the ground together, rolling over and over. The Pict was like a wild beast, his muscles hard as steel strings.

Only the Dodge AC can be used against thrown weapons, and here we see Balthus "ducking" the hurled axe. Balthus' movement last round must have ended with just five feet between himself and one of Conan's enemies because this foe swirls away from Conan, throws his axe (which has an effective range of 10 feet before penalty), moves the five feet up to Balthus and strikes with his knife.

The Picts get two Feats at 1st level: One that all 1st level characters get and a bonus Feat for being in his race's favored class of Barbarian. This Pict must have at least a DEX 13, Point Blank Shot, and Rapid Shot. The Pict uses the Rapid Shot to throw the Axe normally, and continuing a Full Attack Action, he moves the 5 feet and makes the melee attack with the knife. The knife attack is at -2 due to Rapid Shot Feat, but the Barbarian class provides the Two Weapon Combat Feat--so there are no other penalties.

The Pict rolled a natural one on the knife attack, calling up the GUSTUD rule. This means that Balthus gets to have a special free attack against his enemy on his turn.

As Balthus' turn comes around, the GUSTUD result shows a Grapple. "Balthus ducked and then caught the wrist that drove the knife licking at his throat." Balthus is successful with the grapple and decides to perform a trip maneuver as his standard action in order to get the Pict on the ground. "They went to the ground together, rolling over and over. The Pict was like a wild beast, his muscles hard as steel strings."

We're now ready for Round Three.





...What happened in Round Two...

Conan acted first, using a Full Attack, taking two or three swings, probably killing two or three Picts.

All but one of the remaining Picts, two or three, continue to attack Conan using full actions and, possibly, Two Weapon Combat.

One Pict turns from Conan to engage Balthus, using his Rapid Shot Feat to throw his axe, then, continuing a full action, stepping 5 feet to engage the Aquilonian in melee combat with his knife. The Pict rolls a natural one on the knife attack, giving Balthus a special GUSTUD attack, which turns out to be a grapple.

Balthus, acting last, takes his Grapple against the Pict, then, after its success, uses his normal action to trip his foe. The two fall to the ground.





I'll leave you here, in the middle of this fight. I could go on, but I've only described about half of the fight. Later, the story reads, "The knife broke on Conan's mail," which demonstrates rule that primitive weapons which hit but are completely ineffective against metal armored foes will break with the strike--when the armor's DR reduces the primitive weapon's damage to zero.

The story also describes Conan's fight, as Balthus looks at him. "Conan bestroke two of his attackers, shorn half asunder by that terrible broadsword." This shows Conan using a Full Combat Action, making two attacks with that broadsword, and killing one foe with each blow--nearly tearing the Picts in half! That quite accounts for the mis-match of Conan's level, strength, power, and abilities against these first level Picts.