This post details a more tactical combat system for D&D and similar rules systems than the standard one. At the heart of the system lies not d20 or 3d6, but a standard deck of 52 cards.

The core concept of the mechanism came to me when I was shuffling cards for a game of patience while I waited for the computer to do something (I forget what). It’s biggest downside is that it does require a bit of table space.

All the examples have been generated using a real deck, I’ve just transcribed them into a series of digital images..

0. Allies and Enemies

This system works only for the normal “us vs them’ combat scenario. From the PCs point of view, “us” will be referred to as Allies and every other participant is referred to as Enemies. If there are multiple factions of Enemies, each Enemy can choose to attack a PC as normally described by the system or can choose to attack another Enemy combatant as thought they were a PC.

1. Combat Round 0

Anyone who gets a surprise attack resolves it, in sequence of descending DEX.

2. Initiative, Round 1

All combatants generate an initiative value:

• DEX mod +
• Any Initiative Modifiers +
• Magical attack modifiers +
• any circumstantial modifiers defined by the GM +
• a die roll as usually defined by the game mechanics (d20, 3d6, d6, whatever).

The GM assembles a list of all combatants in initiative sequence. It will be simpler later on if the Allies are listed down the left-hand-side of whatever is being used and the Enemy are listed down the right.

2.1 Ties

Ties are not permitted. Break ties in order from highest total to lowest. Break ties in the following sequence:

1. Highest initial Initiative total goes first (refer to the example).
2. Any combatant with the benefit of Surprise goes first;
3. Highest actual die roll goes first
4. Highest Initiative Modifier goes first
5. Highest Magical attack modifier goes first
6. Highest DEX goes first
7. Highest INT goes first
8. Lowest STR goes first
9. Roll-off between the two, highest goes first

Either the combatant with the “goes first” result gets +1 to their initiative total to break the tie, or the character who doesn’t have the “goes first”

I’ll keep examples fairly simple. So here’s a five Allies / four Enemies list, with invented initiative numbers:

Alan 4+1+3-1+6=13
Alphonse 3+1+2-1+10=15
Alice 3+0+3-1+4=9
Artichoke* 1+0+1-1+8=9
Able 2+0+2-1+5=8

Evans 3+0+2+1+8=14
Emberry 3+0+2+1+5=11
Eckhart 2+0+2+2+7=13
Esther 1+0+2+1+7=11

* “Artichoke” is an NPC working for the Allies in some capacity. He will attack only if directly confronted, and otherwise do his best to stay out of the way.

This shows three ties to break: Alan & Eckhart, Alice & Artichoke, Emberry & Esther, at initiative numbers 13, 9, and 11 respectively.

Initiative 13: Eckhart has the benefit of surprise, so he wins the tie. Someone already has initiative 14 so Alan’s initiative drops to 12.

Initiative 11: Esther rolled a 7, Emberry rolled a 5, so Esther wins the tie. We can’t add one to her initiative because that would create a new tie with Alan; instead, we subtract 1 from Emberry’s total to give him Initiative 10.

Initiative 9: Artichoke rolled an 8, Alice only managed a 4; Artichoke wins the tie. Initiative 10 is already occupied by Emberry, but so is Initiative 8, by Able. This time, we have no choice but to create a new tie. Alice drops to Initiative 8.

Initiative 8: Because Alice had an initial total of 9, she wins the tie, and Able drops to initiative 7.

The integrated list is:

Alphonse 15
                              Evans 14
                              Eckhart 13
Alan 12
                              Esther 11
                              Emberry 10
Artichoke* 9
Alice 8
Able 7

3. Shuffle the deck

Continue shuffling until both the GM and whichever player controls the PC with the highest initiative are satisfied that they are sufficiently randomized. Any technique is permitted.

3.1 Padding

No more than 10 columns is possible with only 52 cards. If 10 columns or more are required, then for each additional column, the deck needs to be ‘padded’ with additional cards from a second deck (preferably one with a different back to facilitate easy pack-up).

The number of additional cards required depends on the number of columns required (see below).

10 columns: +5 random cards
11 columns: +10 random cards
12 columns: +15 random cards
13 columns: +20 random cards
… and so on.

This is an unusual situation to arise, it should be noted; most of the time, a single deck is plenty.

4. Deal cards

Cards are then laid face-up on the table as follows:

Left to right, 2 columns +1 per Ally combatant, -1 if the Allies were surprised, +1 if the Enemy were surprised and the Allies were not. (covers situations in which both sides get surprise).

4.1 Column modifier

Whichever faction has the highest net Initiative on their side can choose to either add an additional column or subtract a column. As a general rule, either decision helps both sides, but fewer columns helps Enemies a little more. But this isn’t quite that cut and dried, so this can be a significant tactical decision.

The Allies have the initiative but the Enemies have had the benefit of a surprise attack round.

Evans and Emberry attacked Alan (obviously a fighter-type), Eckhart targeted Alphonse (appeared to be a lesser fighter-type), and Esther targeted Able (probable spellcaster). Artichoke and Alice received no damage.

Alan’s HP are now 158-27=131.
Alphonse’s HP are now 72-9=63.
Able’s HP are now 39-12=28.
Artichoke and Alice are still on 44 and 83 HP, respectively.

Alan decides to add an extra column, replacing the one lost to Surprise, bringing the total to 2+5-1+1=7. Yes, Artichoke counts!

The diagrams below depicts the tactical situation after the surprise round is resolved.

It’s a terrible thing when you spend a lot of time (about 4 hrs) and effort on an illustration only to find that the text isn’t quite as legible as you thought it would be. So below there is an enlarged crop…

4.2 Column Depth

Each column is laid out five cards deep. The remaining cards are then set aside for the Enemies’ use.

The first row is used to define the number of columns.

Additional cards are then laid in each column to complete the next row down before starting a new row.

Below, the initial 7×5 layout is shown.

Sometimes the initial row will favor one side or the other. That’s the vagaries of random chance mixing things up. If the other side starts with a better set of options, you simply have to weather the storm.

4.3 Allies Surprise Enemies

If the Allies surprised the Enemy faction and were not also surprised, they can take one card each from a row of their choosing. Any cards above this card drop down a row. It is to the Allies’ advantage to create columns of the same suit or matching pairs adjacent to each other either vertically or horizontally, as low down the column as possible.

They may remove multiple cards from the same column.

4.4 Enemies Surprise Allies

If the Enemies surprised the Allied faction and were not also surprised, they can add one card per combatant to the top of an existing column.

They may not add more than one card to any one column.

The cards to be added are drawn from the face-down remainder of the deck of 52.

The Enemies got Surprise against the Allies in our example.

Evans adds the QS above the 9H.
Eckhart adds the 10H above the 8S.
Esther adds the KS above the 2D.
Emberry adds the JS above the 5H.

The layout now looks like this:

 

I took a moment to contemplate this layout if the Allies had surprised the enemies instead, and assuming that Alan would take away the extra column that would otherwise be there. If that had happened, these are the four cards that I would have removed:

The columns then collapse, like so:

This is a bad layout for the Enemy. There are too many pairs in adjacent columns – though they will get to take advantage of some of them if the Allies bring two adjacent to each other at the wrong time – and too many other attacks, as shown below.

With so many danger zones, the Enemy can’t hope to block them all, or even the majority. They can only hope it gets better from here.

4.5 Limited Time

You don’t get forever to make up your mind. 20 seconds per decision.

Enemies get an extra 10 seconds for each Enemy combatant over 2, so if there are 4 enemies, the GM gets 40 seconds to make his decisions.

Allies get an extra 10 seconds for each Ally below 4. So if there are only two Allies, they would get 40 seconds each to decide their moves.

If you run out of time, your combat round ends, and any action points not used are forfeighted.

Each action taken is a decision, so if you make a move, the clock restarts.

The intent is for this to be a fast-paced exchange in which each side has to make decisions and live with them without time to find the ‘best possible’ sequence of choices.

The smart players will be planning their moves before it is their turn in the initiative sequence, and modifying those plans on the fly as the battlemap evolves. The GM has more combatants to look after, and more to keep track of, generally, so the time is weighted slightly in their favor. Nevertheless, expect more of his choices to be instinctive and improvised.

This gives the Allies a deliberate long-term advantage over the Enemies.

5. Combat Round 1

Combat proceeds in initiative order. A combatant may choose not to act, but this drops their initiative total to one less than the next combatant to act (if that initiative slot is free) or to the next lowest initiative slot that is vacant.

Alphonse has the initiative for the allies. He can either choose to act now, or can hold his action; if he does so, his initiative will drop from 15 to 13 (but that slot is occupied) and then all the way down to 6 and last. He decides that this is too high a price to pay, and chooses to act now.

5.1 Action Points

The number of actions that a combatant may perform when it is their turn is determined by their combat bonus, which is equal to:

• DEX bonus or STR bonus (depends on type of weapon) or other Bonus (by character class) [Classed combatants only] or 1/3 of CR or equivalent [Enemies without class levels only]
• + Magical Attack Modifiers
• + Attack Bonus (from Character Level or Hit Dice)
• + any applicable Class Bonuses
• + any applicable circumstantial modifiers approved by the GM
• – the sum of all Magic Defense Bonuses of opposition currently placed within attack range of the character.

Most of these values will not change from round to round, so this is not as complicated as it sounds; unless the character changes weapons midway through the combat, the total of the first three will stay the same, and the fourth is likely to stay the same, too.

Alphonse has a DEX mod of 3 and a Magical Attack Bonus of 2, as shown by the initiative calculations, but his weapon of choice is STR based – let’s give him a STR bonus of +3 to match the DEX.

He gets +5 attack bonus from his character level, a + 1 class modifier, and is within melee range of the weapons of Eckhart, who has a Magical Defense Bonus of +3.

3+2+5+1-3 = 7.

5.2 Action Choices

Each point of Combat Bonus permits the character to take additional actions in addition to a single action that every conscious combatant receives each round (no matter what their Combat Bonus may be).

The available actions are:

• Remove a card from the bottom row of the layout. This also removes any card of matching suite above it without an intervening card of a different suite. For example, if a column has the 4, 7, and Jack of hearts followed by the Ace of Clubs (going up the column), removing the 4 also removes the 7 and Jack. Cards removed are placed in a “discard stack”. All cards above the card(s) removed immediately drop down the column to replace the card(s) removed. If this action completely clears a column, it creates the opportunity for a Critical Hit, if not,then it creates the opportunity for a normal hit. This action abandons the casting of any incomplete spell unless the combatant has already suspended the casting (see below). Available only to Allies or Enemies “acting as” Allies, i.e. attacking another Enemy combatant.
• Remove a card from somewhere else within the layout (costs two action points). Any cards of matching suit that are adjacent to the first horizontally are also removed. Every second card so removed creates an opportunity for a normal attack. Removing four or more cards in this way elevates that attack to a possible critical attack. Cards removed are placed in the discard stack as above. All cards above the card(s) removed immediately drop down the column to replace the card(s) removed. This action abandons the casting of any incomplete spell unless the combatant has already suspended the casting (see below). Available only to Allies or Enemies “acting as” Allies, i.e. attacking another Enemy combatant.

• Add a card from the face-down pool of cards in the possession of the GM. If there are no cards remaining, the Discard Stack is shuffled and becomes the new Pool. Each card placed after the first creates the opportunity for a normal attack. Placing 4 or more cards in a column, or completely refilling a column to the maximum depth of 5 cards, creates the opportunity for a critical hit. Available only to Enemies who are attacking the Allies.
• Remove a matching pair from anywhere in the field of play. The pair must be adjacent either horizontally or vertically. Even if there is a third matching card, only two cards are removed. Cards above those removed immediately drop down into the empty slots. This action creates the opportunity for an immediate Critical Hit. Cards removed are added to the Discard Stack. This action is not restricted by faction.
• Execute an attack action. Only available if you have created the Opportunity for one or more normal attacks using preceding action points. Attacks are automatically deemed a success and inflict whatever the normal damage inflicted by the character / weapon combination dictates, plus any special consequences that are dictated by weapon / class descriptions. A character may execute as many attacks as they have created opportunities, each costing one action point.
• Execute a critical attack action. This is automatically deemed a success and does whatever normal ‘critical hit’ damage is indicated for the character / weapon / item / spell combination. Some weapon / armor combinations restrict the number of effective attack actions, see below.
• Move their full movement allocation or part thereof. Entering an opposing faction member’s melee range does NOT create an attack of opportunity, but departing from one DOES. This action may only be performed ONCE per combat turn.
• Cast one round of a spell, if they are capable of doing so. If a spell has been begin in a previous combat round, the character can spend one action point to continue the casting or to suspend the spell incomplete, permitting them to perform another action. Spells take effect immediately before the character’s next action in the round after casting is complete unless they are instantaneous.
• Use a magic item.
• Use a class or special ability.
• Move a 5′ step in addition to any 5′ step performed as default. If this moves a character out of an opposed combatant’s melee range, it does NOT trigger an attack of opportunity. May be performed multiple times in a combat turn.
• Add +1 to their initiative total. If this results in a tie, the initiative total is increased until it matches an available empty slot in the initiative sequence.
• Perform any other action that seems reasonable to the GM, eg getting back up after being knocked prone or taking cover, dropping a weapon, drawing a weapon, etc.

All conscious combatants, regardless of their available attack points, gets one attack point and one 5′ step of movement each turn. Some magical effects may prohibit part or all of this, as usual for that spell’s description.

If I were to follow the pattern established in the article so far, at this point I would offer the first complete combat round as an example, but there are some additional rules to spell out before that is possible.

5.3 Armor Type / Armor Class

Every armor type has a class of damage to which it is more vulnerable. Attackers using weapons that inflict the ‘vulnerable’ damage type have to pay one less action point to execute an attack (either ordinary or critical).

None – vulnerable to all

Cloth / Padded – slashing
Soft Leather – crushing
Hard Leather – piercing

Bone – crushing
Chain – piercing
Any of the above plus a shield – slashing

Banded – crushing
Ring – piercing
Half Plate – slashing

Full Plate – piercing

5.3.2 Natural Armors

Monsters may not wear actual armor, but may have tougher skin that does the same job. Subtract any magical defensive bonus and stat-based bonuses from the AC specified to determine an Armor-equivalence.

5.3.3 Armor Rating

Each armor type also has a rating that measures how many attacks have to be successfully executed before one will register, i.e. actually do damage.

None = 0
Cloth / Padded = 0
Soft Leather = 0

Hard Leather = 1
Bone = 1
Chain = 1

Banded = 2
Ring = 2
Half-plate = 2

Full plate = 3

Shield = score above +1

Ordinary hits count as one successful attack.

Critical hits count as three successful attacks.

Surprise attacks are always ordinary hits but ignore this requirement.

These need not be from a single attacker. One combatant can ‘pave the way’ for another combatant to inflict harm, or can wear through the defenses of the target over multiple combat rounds.

Spells also bypass this requirement, but count as a successful attack if they damage or impair the target.

5.3.2 The Effects Of Magic

If the armor is enchanted, the amount of magical bonus minus the attacker’s magical bonus adds to this requirement.

Ratings cannot drop below zero.

Ratings cannot increase to more than 2 more than the base rating, no matter how high the magical defensive bonuses; the additional benefit garnered from a higher defensive bonus than this lies in making it harder to undermine / remove that benefit.

So a combatant wearing +2 chain who is attacked by an unenchanted weapon has a rating of 3; if attacked with a +1 weapon, the rating is 2; if attacked by a +2 weapon, the magics cancel out, leaving only the base rating of 1; and, if attacked with a +3 or better weapon, the rating is zero.

A combatant wearing +3 chain who is attacked by an unenchanted weapon has a rating of 3 (not 4, because of the cap); if attacked with a +1 weapon, the rating is 3; if attacked by a +2 weapon, the rating is 2; if attacked by a +3 weapon, the magics cancel out, leaving only the base rating of 1; and, if attacked with a +4 or better weapon, the rating is zero.

5.4 Combat Flow

It’s the objective of the Allies to empty one or more columns, or to remove as many cards as they can. It’s the objective of the Enemies to fill empty spaces as quickly as they can. The more action points that you have, the more you can do in combat.

Initially, the field of battle is congested with cards; this creates more opportunities for Allies. As the Allies empty the field of battle of cards, it creates more opportunities for Enemies – in the process refilling the field at least somewhat. So success by either side gives the opposition a greater opportunity to achieve their own success, and the advantage in battle will frequently switch back and forth from one faction to another.

It is common for a fast-acting combatant to be unable to achieve a significant breakthrough, but be able to set up an attack opportunity for another member of the faction. At higher character levels, it may be possible to do both in a single turn.

Long-term success in combat is as much about manipulating the layout to create sets of cards that other combatants on your side can utilize, or poisoning such to limit the effectiveness of the Allies’ options.

Alphonse has 7 AP and a free action. He is currently in Melee with Eckhart, who is a fighter-type.

Eckhart is wearing +3 Ring mail, which is vulnerable to piercing; Alphonse is using a +2 Mace which does crushing damage.

Ring Mail has a threshold of 2 hits, but Eckhart’s mail is +3 to Alphonse’s’ +2, increasing the threshold to 3 hits. so Alphonse needs to hit Eckhart three times to actually score damage. One of these will bounce off the magic and the other off the ring-mail.

However, a critical hit will count for all three of these hits, so the first thing Alphonse does is look at the field of battle for opportunities for taking a critical. If not, he will simply remove a couple of cards and translate one of them into a regular attack against the threshold (note that if Eckhart’s ring-mail. had been +4 instead of +3, even this would not be enough).

The only critical hit chance he sees is the 10 of spades next to the 10 of diamonds, but one is all he needs. For his free action, Alphonse removes the pair, creating a critical opportunity. The cards above the pair immediately drop down and the two are placed in the discard stack.

He then spends his first Action Point executing the attack, which does 20 damage, reducing Eckhart to 82 HP.

There are no remaining critical hit opportunities. Alphonse decides to invest a couple of his Action points improving the board by removing the 6 of Spades from column 1, bringing the trio of hearts into play, and a second removes the 6 of diamonds, creating a critical hit opportunity with the 2 eights. He has now used 3 of his 7 action points..

He next removes the pair of eights with one action point and executes another critical hit with his 5th action point, this time hitting Eckhart for another 17 damage.

The 10 and King of Hearts drop down, and now there’s a vertical critical on offer with the two Kings. What’s more, removing them would create still one more critical chance by emptying the column, though Alphonse doesn’t have enough Action Points left to actually execute that attack. Still, any round in which you execute three critical hits and deny your enemy a fourth one, AND create an almost-empty column that they will have to refill, is a successful one!

He executes the third critical for another 17 points damage to Eckhart, who is now down to just 48 from his initial tally of 102.

That’s the end of Alphonso’s combat round. Next to act will be Evans, and then Eckhart.

5.5 Initiative Order Is Important

Which gives me the opportunity to point out another tactical consideration. One of the considerations that Alphonso had to keep in the back of his mind was that any opportunity that he left on the table would fall into the laps of the two Enemies that were to act after him. He had to be careful not to give them any cheap opportunities.

Evans, the first of this pair of Enemies to act, on the other hand, knows that Eckhart will follow him, so part of his responsibilities to the team is to leave Eckhart with an opportunity or two if he can – he’s just seen the fighter get ripped sideways by a supposedly inferior combatant, and that needs to get turned around in a hurry if his faction are going to come out on top.

Evans is currently battling with Alan. Equipment alone tells him that Alan is the most proficient combatant on the Allies team, just as Evans is the most proficient of the Enemies.

Evans has 5+2+7+3-3 = 14 attack points, plus a free action.

He is using a +2 Sword (does slashing damage) against an opponent in +2 Full Plate, with a +1 Shield to boot, which is vulnerable to piercing damage, not slashing. Full plate has a base threshold of 3 attacks. Furthermore, the Defensive bonus total (+2+1+1) way outmatches his +2 attack, increasing the 3 to a threshold of 5.

Critical hits will count for 3 of the 5, so every second critical will do damage. This is NOT going to be an easy fight!

He first looks for existing critical hit opportunities, and spots the Aces of Hearts and Spades in columns 1 and 2.

What’s more, when the cards drop, that will align the aces of Clubs and Diamonds in rows 2 and 3 for another critical.

That does one critical worth of effective damage.

The threes of Hearts and Clubs are his next targets, again in Columns 1 and 2:

That then exposes the 2s of Diamonds and Hearts for a fourth Critical Hit – but again, only the 4th one will count, not the third.

So far, that uses 7 of his Action points. In total this round, he has inflicted 66 hit points on Alan.

Refilling column 2 from the face-down deck creates another critical, for the cost of 3 action points plus 1 to execute it He draws and places, from the bottom up, the Queen of clubs, the 4 of clubs, and the 3 of diamonds:

That leaves him with three action points and he needs another critical if he is to score more actual damage this round. Refilling column 6 uses two action points, leaving one to execute the attack, and inflicting another 33 points on Alan; the total is one more than half the total remaining after the surprise attack.

He draws and emplaces the 5 of spaces and the 4 of diamonds, ending his turn with a flourish.

 

I think that’s probably enough of the full descriptive narrative. But here are some highlights from the rest of the combat round:

Eckhart refilled columns 1 and 7, using all the original face-down deck. The combat then entered a new tactical sub-phase in which everyone knew that the refill deck was full of pairs of cards. He was not as effective as Alphonso had been; landing only one telling blow.

Alan used several of his attack points to elevate his initiative total so that he would go first next round. He also doused himself liberally in healing potions. He then took advantage of a new critical hit opportunity in column 1 (a pair of 9s), removed a pair of 10s in columns 6 and 7, removed the 8 of hearts, exploited the resulting critical hit opportunity of a pair of 7s, which in turn created another opportunity with a pair of 8s.

Esther worried at Able, who seemed unable to defend him or herself very effectively – unsurprising, being a mage. But there were no critical hits and few normal ones available, so opportunities were limited, and Able managed to hold on – barely.

Emberry also found the going tough, and was unable to do enough to penetrate Alan’s’ defenses. Three normal hits were scored but that wasn’t enough to beat the threshold.

Artichoke maneuvered himself into a better position of concealment and effectively vanished from the sight of the Enemy combatants.

Alice employed a magic item to create a fog that hid the Allie’s movements for three rounds, and denying them attacks of opportunity.

6. Subsequent Initiative

When all combatants have acted or held their action, the combat turn ends and a new one begins. The first thing that happens is a re-sequencing of initiative, from slowest to fastest.

From the highest current initiative total down, members of the opposing faction increase their initiative values to one less than the last combatant who attacked them. Those on higher initiative totals get +1 initiative as necessary to “make room” on the initiative chart.

This breaks combat up into mini-battles of A vs B; the exchanges are no longer separated by intervening actions taken by others.

This is only done ONCE per combat. Thereafter, the only way to change initiative is to (a) Hold an action; or (b) use action points to increase your initiative total.

7. Subsequent Combat Rounds

These are then executed, one after another, until the battle is resolved, one way or another.

8. Reflex Saves

A combatant who is targeted by an effect that gives a Reflex Save for reduced damage must take that action before the spell takes effect. Unless the spellcaster has the highest or lowest initiative number, this divides the combatants into two groups: those who have already acted in this combat round and those who have not.

Those who have already acted can still attempt a reflex save if they are permitted to by the rules pertaining to such saves. In 3.x, there is a feat that permits reflex saves when you wouldn’t normally get them, for example; I don’t know if there’s any equivalent in later iterations of the game systems, so I am assuming that there is.

8.1 Reflex Saves for those who have already acted

These may be attempted for the cost of 1 action point from their next combat round, and the cost of a second action point from their next round if successful.

8.2 Reflex Saves for those who have not yet acted

These may be attempted for a cost in action points as above, but the deduction is to their available action points in the current combat round.

8.3 The effect of Cover (if applicable)

Cover that is available within a 5′ step reduces the action point cost by 1. It’s up to the GM to decide what is, or is not, “cover”; as a rule of thumb, it must conceal half of the combatants’ body from the point of spell effect. It may be fair game for a combatant to leap into the air so that the torso of a giant creature is between them and the effect, for example.

If the cover is 10′ away or more, it may still be reachable with a dive that automatically leaves the defender prone, requiring an action point to stand up before they can do anything else. The limit is 5+STR in feet, minimum 10′.

Defenders who are small or less in size suffer a -5′ penalty to this value.

Defenders who are large or bigger gain a +5′ penalty, but so little will count as cover that this is largely irrelevant most of the time.

Some forms of cover may only be delaying the inevitable – diving into a vat of oil will protect you from the immediate effects of a fireball, but the damage will still take place when you emerge from under the surface.

Some forms of cover may incur alternate damage – diving into a vat of acid will protect you from a fireball, but….

Design Notes

That’s the end of the game mechanics. Fini, complete.

While there are a lot of options for the use of action points, most characters will only have a limited number of them to spread around in any given turn – in many cases, less than the number of options.

The ability to create opportunities for other members of your faction to then exploit, to plan combat moves in advance over multiple rounds and modify those plans as the battlefield situation changes, and to perceive and execute successful combinations of actions, yields a huge benefit in battle.

While individual combats remain central, the playing card “Field Of Battle” that is used by everyone means that those combat actions are not resolved in a vacuum; what one combatant does, or doesn’t do, has ripple effects that impact others.

The GM – being one person – has an advantage in coordinating his efforts. It’s for that reason that the mechanics give an overall advantage to the Allies.

All that’s left to do is show you a couple of rounds of the combat example.

So here’s how the rest of the battle played out: Using the fog, Alan withdrew from close combat with Esther, Alice taking his place and in position to attack from behind.

When the fog cleared, the Allies were able to initiate surprise attacks on the Enemies. Alan rained blows on Evans, and Alice took down Esther. Alphonse and Eckhart continued their equally-matched knock-down drag-out brawl. A rejuvenated Able took down both Emberry and the weakened Evans with a single well-chosen spell. Eckhart, as the only remaining combatant, then surrendered, his position hopeless.

This was absolutely a team victory; each of them made a contribution to the success of the effort. But it was a very close-run thing; slightly better luck on the part of the Enemies could have taken down one or two of the Allies in that furious opening round, and without them the links in the chain that led to overall victory would also have been broken.

So that’s 52. It’s dramatic, it’s tactical, and it has wrinkles and bones in it enough to satisfy the most hardened of combat junkies. I hope that there’s nothing I’ve overlooked, and there’s nothing unclear. If there’s anything, let me know in the comments below.

The mechanics should slot straight into any version of D&D / Pathfinder. In addition, other games should also integrate the system easily. Anything that uses the same basic combat system should support it’s use.

Variations

I’ve deliberately not left a lot of room for major variations, but some tinkering is always possible. There is one variation that does need to be explicitly spelt out, though: More Rows = More Matches = More Criticals. This is an exponential relationship, or it feels that way; so if you find the example just a little too frenetic and would like to slow the pace down a little, reduce the depth of the standard field from 5 to 4.

It should be noted that all combat with the 52-engine starts very frenetic and then slows down in subsequent combat rounds, though; I chose a depth of 5 to keep the action moving somewhat more quickly in later rounds. Another word of warning, too: such a reduction makes clearing columns much easier, and that’s another road to a critical.

A hybrid option is also possible, in which you start with 4 rows and add a card to the top of each column in the second or third combat round. Nor is there any need to be consistent about this – you can vary it based on how dramatic you want a particular combat to be!

One Final Thought

While it doesn’t show off the system to the same extent, it’s also possible to only utilize thee mechanics when you want that extra Oomph for an encounter. This game mechanism automatically incorporates a visual representation of the state of combat, and that can’t help but ramp up the drama level a little. My biggest concern would be that players would not have had enough practice to sue the system to its’ best.

Addendum

Here are the stats that I allocated to the various combatants in the example, just for reference. Most of the numbers / character configurations were plucked out of thin air and may not be true representations of the game rules.

Alphonse

Cleric Lvl 11
HP 72
Magical Attack +2
Dex Mod +3
STR Mod +3
Char Level +5
Magic Def Bonus +4
Class Bonus +1
Chainmail +4 (V: piercing)
Mace (crushing) +2
Normal Damage d6+5
Critical Damage (2 x d6) + 10

Evans

Fighter Lvl 14
HP 133
Magical Attack +2
Dex Mod +4
STR Mod +5
Char Level +7
Magic Def Bonus +4
Class Bonus +3
Half Plate +4 (V; Slashing)
Sword (slashing) +2
Normal Damage d8 + 7
Critical Damage (3 x d8) +21

Eckhart

Fighter Lvl 12
HP 102
Magical Attack +2
Dex Mod +5
STR Mod +3
Char Level +6
Magic Def Bonus +3
Class Bonus +2
Ring Mail+3 (v Piercing)
Axe (slashing) +2
Normal Damage d6 + 5
Critical Damage (2 x d6) +10

Alan

Fighter Lvl 15
HP 158
Magical Attack +4
Dex Mod +4
STR Mod +4
Char Level +7
Magic Def Bonus +3
Class Bonus +4
Full Plate +2 + Shield +1(+1) (V Piercing)
Sword (slashing) +3
Normal Damage d8+7
Critical Damage (3 x d8) +21

Esther

Monster HD 10
HP 75
Magical Attack +2
Dex Mod +2
STR Mod +3
HD +5
Magic Def Bonus +2
Class Bonus +0
Armor Equivalent = Ring +2 (V Piecing)
Normal Damage (2 x claws) = 2d6+10
Critical Damage (2 x 2d6)+20 + Bite 2d4 + 10

Emberry

Monster HD 10
HP 85
Magical Attack +2
Dex Mod +3
STR Mod +2
HD +5
Magic Def Bonus +2
Class Bonus +0
Armor Equivalent = Banded +2 (v Crushing)
Normal Damage (2 x claws) = 2d6+10
Critical Damage (2 x 2×6)+20 + Bite 2d4 +10

Artichoke

Thief Lvl 8
HP 44
Magical Attack +1
Dex Mod +5
STR Mod +1
Char Level +4
Magic Def Bonus +2
Class Bonus +0
Soft Leather+1 + Shield +1(+1) (V Crushing)
Sword (slashing) +1
Normal Damage d6+2+d6 sneak
Critical Damage (2x d6) +4 + 2d6 (sneak)

Alice

Ranger Lvl 10
HP 83
Magical Attack +3
Dex Mod +4
STR Mod +4
Char Level +5
Magic Def Bonus +3
Class Bonus +2
Chain +2 + Shield +1(+1) (V Piercing)
Sword (slashing) +3
Normal Damage d10+7
Critical Damage (2x d10)+21

Able

Wizard Lvl 11
HP 39
Magical Attack +2
Dex Mod +4
STR Mod +0
Char Level +3
Magic Def Bonus +3
Class Bonus +0
Soft Leather +3 (V crushing)
Dagger (slashing) +2
Normal Damage = d4+2
Critical Damage = (2 x d4)+4