The Strategy of Tactics

by Jordan
Clarke Hayes Melee tactics for either edition of the ADBD� gameIn the AD&D�
game, the rules for res olving melee are concis e and s imple. This promotes
role�playing and heroics over the s econdary details ofprecis ely how a blow s trikes
or mis s es . This s imple s ys tem fulfills its function admirably. However any tactics
bes ides running away ins tead offighting are neglected as a res ult. Luckily, as the
s ys tem is open-ended,rules s imulating a defens ive or offens ive pos ture in melee can
eas ily beadded. Many games in which man�to�man combat is an integral part permit
characters to parry, dodge, or otherwiae negate blows by allowing combatants to roll
agains t an appropriate s kill or ability. This gives players a greaterfeeling of
control over what happens to their characters during melee. Unfortunately, s uch a
s ys tem makes additional rules references and die rolls a neces s ary evil that s lows
down the action. In the AD&D game, where minutes of game time are ideally res olved
with but a few qu�ck tos s es of the dice,s uch a s ys tem is not des irable. Likewis e,
s ys tems that allow the employmentof very s pecific s trikes and s imilar actions do
not truly belong in mos tAD&D games , where much of the activity in a melee round is
as s umed and comes to life only when narrated by a Dungeon Mas ter. The rules here
pres ent a s et of clos ecombat tactics that allow combatants to better control their
actions in the mids t of battle. Thes e rules create thevarious s trategic
poaaibilities of melee without changing the exis ting gamerules or caus ing the need
for additional die rolls each round. Note that the AD&D 2nd Edition rules offer a
s imple s olution to the problemof the lack of pos s ible options in melee by
introducing an optional parrying rule (Player's Handbook, page 100). Unfortunately,
this rule is anall-or-nothing affair. Beaides being of limited us e to a primarily
low-level game, this does not addres s the pos s ibility of any tactic other than a
defens ive one. Since the parrying rule in the PHB and melee-tactics s ys tempres ented
here do not work together cons ider the rules here as a pos s iblereplacement to the
parrying rule for thos e who want to add a little mores ubs tance to their AD&D game
battles . The bas ics Page 105 of the AD&D ls t Edition Players Handbook contains the
pas s age: "The 1 minute melee round as s umes much activity-rus hes , retreats , feints ,
parries , checks , and s o on. Once during this period each combatant has the
opportunity to get a real blow in:' Building on this s tatement, one canconclude
that a tactically minded warrior can decide how much he lets his guard down when
attempting this blow. Likewis e, a des perate warrior canattack with complete
abandon, neglecting the evas ions and parries as s umed to be a part of the melee
round. This can eas ily be s imulated in combatby allowing combatants to s elect from
five s tyles of fighting: normal attack and defens e; active defens e; full defens e;
active attack; and full attack. The "normal attack and defens e" s tyle of fighting
us es the s tandard AD&. Drules for melee combat, as s uming a generally equal
dis tribution betweenoffens ive and defens ive actions on the part of any given
combatant. Us edextens ively when combat is between fairly balanced forces , with
neither s ide having gained the upper hand, normal attack and defens e is the mos t
commonly us ed melee tactic. Though not an addition to the rules , the normal mode of
attacking is s hownhere for the purpos e of comparis on. It is the midpoint on which
thefollowing offens ive and defens ive tactics are bas ed. In all tactics that follow,
the modifiers to hit and to armor clas s arecumulative with bonus es and penalties
for s trength, dexterity, magicalbonus es , weapon proficiency, weapon s pecialization,
and other s ituations . The armor-clas s modifiers apply only to the final armor clas s
of theattacker, not his armor type (a dis tinction important if weapon type vs . armor
modifiers are us ed in an AD&D ls t Edition game). Tactic initiativemodifiers are
applied to the initiative die roll. Modifiers for the AD&D ls t Edition game are
applied to the ld� initiative roll, where the highes t rollwins , but applies only if
every combatant on the s ide of the battle inques tion us es the s ame tactic. If
individual initiative dice are rolled, the appropriate modifiers are allowed only
to thos e combatants us ing thes etactics . T�ctic modifiers for the AD&D 2nd Edition
game may be applied to either theoptional group initiative or individual initiative
s ys tem of the AD&D ZndEdition game (s ee pages 94-95 of the Player's Handbook). If
the s tandardinitiative s ys tem is employed, tactic initiative modifiers affect the
1d10roll only when everyone on one s ide of the fight is employing the s ame tactic.
Active defenee: This allows s ome attacking when an obvious advantagepres ents
its elf, but there is an underlying commitment to defens ivemovements during the
cours e of the melee round. Depending on the individualperforming the action, active
defens e may cons is t of quick dodges andcircling maneuvers , a rais ed and braced
s hield, a bladed weapon extended ina ready pos ition to keep opponents at a dis tance
or to abruptly s trike ifthey come too clos e, etc. A warrior who mus t delay an enemy
until aidarrives , or employs the active-defens e tactic. Another common us e of this
tactic is by cautious fighting men who want to "feel their opponents out"for a
round or two to get an es timate of their opponents ' abilities , withs ome ins urance
agains t a quick death dealt by a vas tly s uperior foe. A s hield-bearing character
us ing activedefens e has a -2 penalty on his attack rolls and a +2 bonus to his
armorclas s for the round. A character without a s hield gains only a + 1 bonus tohis
armor' clas s with a -2 penalty to hit. Thus , a ranger with leather armor and a
s hield who us es active defens e has a frontal armor clas s of 7 -2 = 5;if he had no
s hield, the ranger would have AC 6. Lls ing the AD&D ls t Edition rules , a character
us ing this tactic has a -1 penalty on initiative. In AD&D 2nd Edition rules , there
is a +2 initiative penalty with this tactic. Fulldefens e: 'This tactic is akin to
active defens e but to a more extremedegree. The defender abandons all offens ive
actions in lieu of protectives tances , blocks , and evas ions . A character who is s o
hadly wounded that thes lightes t blow is s ure to s lay him often utilizes this tactic
in the hopes that he can s urvive long enough for his comrades to win the day. A
character us ing this tactic cannot make any attack rolls at all; nor can he cas t
s pells of any s ort. If he has no s hield, he gains a +2 bonus to his armor clas s for
that round. If he has a s hield, he receives a +4 bonus on his armor clas s for that
round, excluding all s hield bonus es . Initiative rolls are irrelevant, s incethe
character takes no action other than to defend hims elf; he cannot runaway while
us ing this tactic. Thus , a ranger in chain mail with a bodys hield us ing full
defens e has an armor clas s of 4-4=0 to his front andflanks , but he has AC 5 from
the rear. If he had no s hield, he would have AC 2 from the front and flanks . A body
s hield us ed in this manner offers a total bonus of +6 to armor clas s vs . normal
mis s ile fire (excluding objects hurled by giants or s iegeengines ); this bonus is in
addition to all s hield bonus es . Protection frommis s ile fire applies only inthe
direction from which the mis s iles are coming. Full-defens e, dexterity,and s hield
bonus es to armor clas s apply only to the character's front andflanks , not to his
rear. The ranger in the previous example would be AC -2vs . arrow fire from orcis h
archers to his front, but not to thos e fromeither flank or to his rear. Active
attack: This offens ive tactic is characterized by the launching of as eries of well-
aimed attacks in the effort to land an effective blow. Ofcours e, the attacker doing
this mus t abandon a great deal of caution, lowerhis guard while winding up for the
enhanced attack, and accept a greaterchance of being s truck by the enemv. This
tactic is us ed when fighting foes with good armor clas s es and in s ituations when it
is important to hit anopponent quickly. A character making us e of this tactic has a
+ 1 bonus onall attack rolls that round and has a -1 penalty to his armor clas s for
theround. No armor clas s es above (wors e) than 10 are pos s ible. The attacker can us e
a s hield of medium s ize or s maller with this tactic, but a larger s hield is too
clums y to handle with an active attack. In ls t Edition rules , us e ofthis tactic
entails a + 1 initiative bonus for the attacker; in 2nd Editionrules , there is a -2
bonus to initiative. Full attack: This tactic emhodies a s imple idea: to hurl blow
after blow atan enemy without paus ing to ctodge or parry. Full attack is a s trategy
ofthe foolhardy, the des perate, the bers erk, or the extremelv well armored. This
tactic does not replace the charging rules in either edition of theAD&D game books ,
as it is not the s ame thing (s ee the ls t Edition DMG, page66, or the 2nd Edition
DMG, page 59). A character may not charge and us e the fullattack option in the s ame
round unles s he is entitled to more attacks after the initial charge in the s ame
round (s ee "Special cas es "). No bonus es are gained by bracing a weapon agains t a
foe us ing this tactic. A character utilizing this tactic has a +2 bonus on to-hit
rolls and a -2penalty to his armor clas s for the round. No armor clas s es above
(wors e)than 10 are pos s ible. No s hield can be us ed by the attacker, and nodexterity
bonus es for armor clas s are applied. Us ing ls t Edition rules , theinitiative
modifier for the attacker is a +2 bonus ; for 2nd Edition rules ,is a -3 bonus . For
example: Trad, a fighter with anaverage dexterity and leather armor, performs the
full-attack tactic.
Whenhe is attacked that round, Trad s uffers a -2 penalty on his normal armorclas s
of 8, res ulting in an armor clas s of l0 for the round. If Trad had noarmor to
protect hims elf (AC 10), the full�attack option would s till leavehim with AC 10.
Optional rule: Bers erker NPCs (as per the Mons trous Compendium, "Men") mayhe
allowed to us e the full-attack routine while doubling their normal number of
attacks per round, to make their attacks more deadly. Thus , a 7th-levelwarrior who
was a bers erker could attack three times per round at +2 to hit, but would
otherwis e be s ubject to all the res triction given in this articlefor full attacks .
Clos e-Combat Tactics Table Attack Initiative Armor
claas Tactic modifier modifier � modifier� �Active
defens e -2 penalty -1/+2 penalty +1/+2 bonus Full defens e nil
nil - 2/ +4 bonus * * *Active attack + 1 bonus + 1/ -2
bonus -1 penaltyFull attack +2 bonus +2/-3 bonus +2 penalty* Figures
before the s las h are for the AD&,D ls t Edition game; thos e afterthe s las hare for
the AD&D 2nd Edition game. * * Figures before the s las h are for combatants not us ing
s hields ; thos eafter thes las h are for thos e with s hields . * * * + 6 bonus with a body
s hield vs . s mall mis s iles . Tactics in play To us e one of thes e tactics in place of
attacking and defending normally, a player mus t declare his des ire to do s o at the
beginning of a melee roundbefore any initiative rolls are made. All appropriate
modifiers are thenapplied for the tactic declared, as per the Clos e-Combat Tactics
Tableherein. At the end of the round in which the tactic was us ed, the pers on who
employed the tactic may either keep us ing that tactic, change tactics , orattack
normally in the next round. To s ave the DM the trouble of as king each player in turn
if his character is us ing a tactic or is attacking normally at the s tart of each
round, it is generally expedient to as s ume that any given combatant will always
employthe s ame tactic us ed on the previous round, unles s the player controllingthe
combatant s pecifically declares otherwis e before the initiative roll. Any character
us ing a melee weapon with which he has proficiency ors pecialization is free to
employ any tactic he des ires . Thes e tactics arenot res tricted to the fighter clas s .
Subject to the DM's dis cretion, s omeweapon-us ing mons ter and humanoid types can be
dis ciplined enough to perform thes e tactics . Someone wielding a weapon without
proficiency in that weaponmay not us e any of the offens ive or defens ive tactics
lis ted here. Thefollowing is an example of how thes e rules might be us ed in play:
DM: "Avorak, you're in the doorway tothe central chamber. You were s erious ly
wounded by the ogre guard after youmis s ed it with your broad s word. It's a new
round, s o roll initiative:'Avorak's player: "How far back down the pas s age is the
res t of the party?"DM: "About eighty feet:'Avorak's player: "I don't want get
bas hed again. I'm going to us e fulldefens e as I withdraw back toward the res t of
the party. That makes my armor clas s of four go down to zero:'DM (after referring
to a table and rolling a die): "All right. You rais eyour trus ty s hield, and cras h!
You parry the ogre's club and s tep out of his way:'From this example, it is
apparent that clos e-combat tactics in melee allowthos e engaged in combat a greater
variety of pos s ible actions and provide avehicle on which game-enhancing role-
playing can be bas ed. Beyond this , theus e of the s ys tem can aid players and DMs in
the narrating and vis ualizingof combat s cenes that might otherwis e be a meaningles s
tes t of dice-rollingwith little s trategy involved to s park interes t. Special cas es
Multiple attacks : The attack modifier of a tactic being us ed by a warriorwith more
than one attack per round is applied to each attack the warriorcan make that round.
The initiative modifiers of the tactics given here are not affected if theus er is
capable of multiple attacks . They are exactly the s ame as ins tandard s ituations and
are applied in exactly the s ame way as with tactics ' us es by thos e with only one
attack per round. The armor clas s modifiers for tactics us ing combatants with more
than oneattack are implemented normally; they s imply are applied as s hown on the
Clos eCombat T�ctics T�ble. Fighting men who get 3/2 or 5/2 attacks per round us e
tactics normally, with one exception. Thes e characters mus t us e one tactic per s et
of attacks (3 or 5 as above), not per round. This means that a fighters with 3/2 or
5/2attacks per round mus t keep the s ame tactic for two cons ecutive rounds -thetime
needed to make one s et of attacks . Multiple weapons : The s ame rules for tactics that
apply to thos e capable of multiple attacks with a s ingleweapon als o apply to any
character getting extra attacks through the us e oftwo weapons at once (s ee the ls t
Edition DMG, page 70, or the 2nd EditionPlayer's Handbook, page 96). Note that mos t
characters us ing two weapons will s uffer penalties for us ing more than one weapon in
combat. Be s ure tofigure thes e penalties in when adding a tactic's bonus es and
penalties . Multiple natural attacks : Humanoid beings that attack us ing armor and
weapons , much like player characters , us e thes e rules normally. Nonhumanoidmons ters
and animals that rely on natural weaponry mus t abide by certains trictures when they
employ clos e-combat tactics , unles s the DM s ees anyreas on why the mons ters in
ques tion s hould be excluded from us ing tactics (centaurs , for example, might us e all
s uch routines ). Mons ters s uch as thes e are limited in their us e of tactics in that
they mayonly employ the active-defens e and active attack options . This is becaus e
the us e of natural weaponry is us ually little more than undis ciplinedins tinct
refined by whatever intelligence the creature or animal in ques tion pos s es s es .
Als o, it is difficult to perform complex parrying or choppingmaneuvers with claws
and teeth. Optionally, humanoid beings larger thanogres may be placed in this
category. When tactics don't applyThere are s ome s ituations that occur in melee
where clos e combat tactics may not be employed. When a s urpris e attack is made, as
from behind or from aninvis ible being, tactics may not be us ed by the attacker
Similarly, whenattacking a s leeping or defens eles s opponent, the attacker cannot
us e thes etactics . This is becaus e the us e of tactics entails performing certain
types of actions for an entire round, and thes e are not the s ame actions as making
a s udden, telling s troke from s urpris e. Surpris e s ituations are covered bytheir own
melee rules . The armor-clas s modifiers gained fromtactics us es do affect mis s iles
being fired at the tactics ' us er. Theerratic dodges of a defens ive-tactic us er can
eas ily foil a bowman's aimjus t as the predictable movements of an offens ive tactic
us er can aid it. Convers ely, tactics cannot be us ed by anyone wielding a mis s ile
weapon,s ince the dis charging of mis s iles generally requires the firer to s tay s till
or at leas t move with s mooth, predictable motions . Conclus ionThe eas ies t way to make
the tactics s ys tem an option in your AD&D game is to have the other gamers in your
group look over this article. Then make twocopies of the Clos e-Combat Tactics Table
and affix the information to boths ides of the local DM's s creen or to anything els e
in every� one's view. That s hould be more than s ufficient provis ion for anyone
wanting to havetheir character employ melee tactics in the game. 30 MAY 1991
�