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Matthew
2011-01-26, 07:32 PM
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Codex Martialis (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=58045)

Author: Jean Henri Chandler.
Contents: 40 portable document format black and white pages, 1 credit page, 2 contents pages, 4½ pages of rules, 9 pages of feats, 3½ pages of extracts, 6 pages of black and white illustrations, 10 pages of appendices, 1 character sheet page, 2 index pages, and 1 open game license page.
Publisher: Ire Games
Product Code: Not Applicable
Retail Price: $12.00

Overview

At the time of the initial release of the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons there was a short run of articles on the Wizards of the Coast website entitled "weapons rack". Each presented statistics and design notes for a new weapon that was to be available in the game. As part of the article introducing the infamous two-bladed sword, Skip Williams explained that the weapon represented "several elements of the game's design philosophy at work: emphasize fantasy over history, make the world look cool, provide players with hard choices, and offer numerous ways to master the game (deciding exactly how to employ a two-bladed sword or any double weapon requires a good deal of thought)." The Codex Martialis is a combat rules supplement for D20/3e that not only makes the argument that historical arms and armour are "cool", but that authentic combat techniques and assumptions, translated faithfully into game rules, can potentially present a plethora of verisimilar opportunities to "master the game". For anybody dissatisfied with the design decision to "stray a bit from past editions and recognize that D&D isn't really a historical game, but a fantasy game", this alternative contention has a lot to recommend it.

For the D20/3e system, there are two major innovations introduced in the Codex Martialis that help increase the feeling for the participants that the game is emulating realistic combat. The first is that all weapons have three new numerical characteristics, reach, speed, and defence. Of these, reach is an attack bonus added at "onset" range, whilst speed is an attack bonus used primarily at "mêlée" range, and defence is a bonus added whenever the weapon is used to parry. So, for instance, a dagger might have the characteristics 1|5|1, whilst a spear has 7|1|3, making the former better at mêlée range and the latter at onset range. Generally, the more reach bonus a weapon has, the less speed bonus it has, and vice versa. The second is the use of a "martial dice pool" for combat actions, which ranges from one to four dice as determined by the base attack bonus of the character. A martial die is expended whenever an attack is made in a round; several can be used to increase the probability of a successful single attack, as well as individually used to make follow up attacks, or saved for use in defence. They are also used to change combat range from "onset" to "mêlée" to "grapple" and can be used to enhance saving throws as well.

Unsurprisingly, and like most systems that purport to increase the realism of combat in Dungeons & Dragons, the Codex Martialis opts to treat armour as damage reduction, ranging from one to ten. As with the much praised D20 Conan system, though, attackers can choose to bypass armour, which translates as a penalty to hit or a defence modifier ranging from two to ten (which is to say, effectively an armour class). Ordinarily, a combatant has a passive defence of 8 + base attack bonus + dexterity modifier + shield bonus (which ranges from one to five); however, if the character has any unexpended martial dice left in the round he can use one or more to actively defend himself, rolling 1d20 in place of the static defence of 8, and optionally applying the defence modifier of his weapon in place of his shield bonus (though these can be added together with the appropriate feat). Since a shield also adds a die to an active defence roll, it is useful even if it contributes less defence bonus than the weapon it is used with. There is also a system for critical hits and "dynamic" critical hits in place, which increases the amount of damage done on a roll of a twenty, depending on the number of martial dice expended in the attack.

Perhaps the most substantial part of the Codex Martialis is the nine page section that details the basic and advanced "martial feats" intended to be used with the system. Here we find translations of the strikes and methods of extant medieval fight books, such as "durchwechseln", the "meisterhau", and "morstrosse" into game rules; the author suggests that one of these be gained for every point of base attack bonus advanced. In combination with the rules governing counterattacks and the various optional rules that provide additional detail, these are the features that give the system tactical diversity and flexibility, as well as the character customisation and predefinition that is at the core of the D20/3e system. Unlike the default rules, though, it presents very definite reasons to situationally shift between weapons; no player is likely to be left wondering why his character is carrying a dagger or what possible use a spear might be when he has his trusty sword to hand. Indeed, there can be little doubt that the Codex Martialis successfully differentiates between weapons, assigning them authentic historical characteristics within the limits of the abstract D20/3e paradigm, but how does it play?

Criticism

Whilst Codex Martialis is at its strongest in its ideas, it is somewhat weaker when conveying them to the reader, especially with regard to how they interlock with the D20/3e system. To some extent this must be intentional, in that the author is allowing individual game masters considerable leeway when it comes to applying the rules of the supplement to their campaign. However, there are several points where confusion can arise, and it would seem that the work could have benefitted from some sort of "action table", perhaps analogous to the one in the default rules, spelling out what martial dice can be used for. For instance, it is not at all clear how a character might go about drawing a new weapon, in the default rules a move equivalent action or a free action with the appropriate feat. Is the martial pool grafted directly onto the action system, working in parallel with it so that it requires a standard action and a martial die to make an attack or does it replace the usual action system as implied on page nine? If so, how does a charge work? It may be that there is some nomenclature confusion between the "full attack" and "full round" actions, but it is just not clear from the text quite what is intended.

Although the quotations from medieval chronicles and sagas are interesting and set the mood, the space would have almost certainly have been better used for examples of the game rules in action. Such things are usually tedious to write and often unappealing on a first read through, but can be very useful when it comes to fully understanding the way the rules are intended to work. In particular, many martial feat entries could do with greater clarity and economy of language in order to facilitate comprehension of the various nuances that are not immediately apparent. These are concerns that can be easily addressed, and perhaps have been to some extent with the newest version. For instance, two orcs armed with daggers have one martial die each, whichever of them spends one to close to mêlée range is going to lose the initiative, so likely they will keep circling at onset range. This seems realistic, but on the other hand if one of the orcs has a base attack bonus of two, three, or four, he can potentially move to mêlée range and gain the bonus to hit from speed for up to three follow up attacks and the chance of his opponent counterattacking is slight. Is this intended? The difference between base attack bonus one and four seems very significant.

It is probably apparent to even the casual reader that the rules of Codex Martialis should not simply be grafted onto a regular D20/3e game and played with the usual expectations. This is not a problem for those who create their own campaigns whole cloth, but it limits the compatibility of the supplement with any existing campaign settings or adventure modules written for the default game. In that respect it is more like a prototype of something like Iron Heroes than a rules supplement for Dungeons & Dragons. This lack of compatibility is further exacerbated by the choice of terminology, which is more in line with what is current in medieval martial arts circles. Such a format is desirable for a supplement of this sort, but because the nomenclature is not directly transferable to Dungeons & Dragons it can be an obstacle. It would perhaps have been nice to have included an appendix using the standard game terminology with corresponding approximate characteristics for their use with the Codex Martialis rules, though perhaps antithetical to its purpose! At any rate, none of these concerns should deter anybody interested in giving their D20/3e game a more authentic combat vibe, even if only some of the ideas are incorporated.

Conclusion

The Codex Martialis is a fascinating supplement. It obviously owes a good deal to other games, such as the Riddle of Steel, but incorporating such ideas and systems into D20/3e is a very ambitious goal and on the whole seems to have been successfully achieved. Without further play testing and analysis of the results it would likely be premature to judge the system in detail. There are certainly concerns about how the various subsystems interact and the how the underlying mathematics works out, which is hard to judge when dealing with such dynamic dice pools. It is difficult to predict the difference between the probable outcome of a single three dice attack versus three single die attacks, particularly when they can be actively opposed by another die roll on the part of the defender. The author also suggests a hit point limit based on constitution for characters to further support the "grim & gritty" aesthetic of the supplement, which presumably would also have to be applied to monsters to some degree. Again, that is a concern for anybody who wishes to preserve game balance (what little there is of it in D20/3e) in, for instance, his third edition Forgotten Realms campaign, but the results would no doubt be interesting!

To judge by the newer versions of the Codex Martialis, this supplement is a work in progress, and at the moment in a constant state of improvement, as much with regard to artwork and layout as content, and that can only be for the good. Apart from the public domain illustrations, there are some strong and evocative pieces by Reynard Rochon. In particular, the wounded men on page eight give a good sense of the intended atmosphere of authentic medieval combat. Therein, maybe, lies a hint of the most suitable purpose to which this work might be put, which is to say not so much a conventional game of Dungeons & Dragons, but as a rules supplement for a D20 Past campaign; more Flesh & Blood than Hawk the Slayer perhaps. Nonetheless, if the above concerns are borne in mind, there is no compelling reason to dissuade anyone from using the Codex Martialis with a more conventional D20/3e campaign. Indeed, it is tempting to imagine how it might play out in the Caverns of the Snow Witch or the Warlock of Firetop Mountain. At the very least, such a trial would be entertaining for players and game master alike, historically minded or not, and when all is said and done that is the purpose of adventure games.


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Codex Martialis (Revised and Expanded) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=75133)

Author: Jean Henri Chandler.
Contents: 108 portable document format black and white pages, 1 credit page, 5 contents pages, 12 pages of rules, 23 pages of feats, 56 pages of appendices, 4 bibliography and recommended media pages, 1 character sheet page, several full page illustrations, and 1 open game license page.
Publisher: Ire Games
Product Code: Not Applicable
Retail Price: $10.00

Addendum

Included in the price of the original Codex Martialis is access to a revised and expanded version, which is also sold separately for a slightly lower price. Whilst the layout and fonts show signs of improvement, the overall production values remain those of an "amateur press" endeavour for the moment, as one would expect for an evolving product of this sort. The majority of the additional content is accounted for by four pages of bibliography and media recommendations, four pages of conversion notes for common D20/3e feats, four pages of mounted combat rules, eight pages of sample animal conversions, and eighteen pages of example characters. In the latter case it would have been nice to have seen these take advantage of the Codex Martialis character sheet. The combat rules and martial feats section have also been expanded, clarified and corrected to some degree, and whilst the work itself still lacks examples a number of these can be found on the supporting website. Several of these rules have been incorporated from the Mêlée Weapons supplement where they originally appeared. Additional interior illustrations have been provided, mostly public domain, as well as several anecdotal historical extracts of interest.

Even though this is a marked improvement upon the original, a number of questions still remain unanswered for the reader, whilst the answer as to how move equivalent actions are handled is a little unsatisfactory and vague. In the case of the latter it is left to the discretion of the game master as to how many martial dice are required to perform a move equivalent action, but one to two are suggested. This seems a little harsh for characters with one or no base attack bonus, and it would seem an advisable alternative to allow those who do not move in a round to take a move equivalent action without expending martial dice. It remains unstated how many martial dice are required to take a charge action, which is to say whether one or all of them. More significantly, it remains unclear from the text exactly when an active defence is declared (before or after an attack roll is made) and against which attacks it applies (the first made in the round, all attacks made in the round, or selectively against attacks nominated by the player). What is intended by the author can largely be inferred from the online examples, but still needs to be made clear in the rules themselves, if it is not be left at the discretion of individual game masters.

One new rule introduced is "desperation defence", which allows a character whose active defence has been overcome to reroll if he has any remaining martial dice, losing the initiative as a consequence or if already at that disadvantage losing one of his available martial dice for the following round. This seems to reduce the risk involved in holding back dice for a counterattack, and is a sensible solution. Other rules have been modified, such as no longer adding base attack bonus to initiative as an optional rule, instead the character with the highest base attack bonus in a mêlée gets to roll two dice and choose the best. Such a rule seems to be better fitted for an individual duel than for a larger mêlée. An optional rule for initiative modification by weapon length would also seem more reasonably applied at onset range, and weapon speed at mêlée range, but then optional rules are really more the province of individual preference and customisation. The missile weapon rules have been refined, and the corresponding exotic weapon table expanded to include the flat bow, the English "war bow", a "heavy" composite bow, and the Japanese yumi (弓), presumably the daikyū (大弓) rather than the hankyū (半弓), along with some notes for handling mounted archery.

A short appendix dealing with mounted combat introduces the "deluxe warhorse" template, along with five specific breeds and types of medieval horse, which is to say the destrier, the palfrey, the courser, the hobbie, and the jennet. These additions are typical of the modus operandi of the Codex Martialis, reducing the level of abstraction and including authentic historical details that give the participants more options and a greater sense of verisimilitude. Perhaps the only criticism worth making in that vein is that there is an unlimited transference of strength from mount to rider permitted, whereas in reality the size and strength of both are of great consequence in a mounted charge. By way of extreme example, one could hardly expect the strength of a destrier to be transferred through the arm of a child (or halfling), no matter how securely seated. Despite its title, this section has surprisingly few rules relating specifically to mounted combat outside of the horses themselves, and it would be reasonable to expect that this section of the rules will be revisited and expanded on in the near future. If not, then a supplement dealing with the rules for mounted combat as a whole in more detail will be much anticipated.

Whereas the earlier release of the Codex Martialis was more of a barebones affair, this is clearly a more developed version, but completely recognisable as having the same aesthetic, objectives and basic structure. It seems likely to be the result of considerable play testing, campaign development, continuing research, and feedback from a dedicated community. One of the more notable changes is that the damage reduction provided by armour types has been significantly reworked. Generally, these values have been increased, but they are also optionally categorised by attack forms P, C, and S (piercing, chopping and slashing), though a value for "B" (bludgeoning) appears to be lacking. As might be expected, some weapon characteristics have also been altered, but largely they conform to the same pattern as earlier, so the general result is that armour has been rendered more protective in this latest version of the supplement, which is also reflected in the modified bypass values. These are the sort of changes that are interesting to follow in a developing work, and it is to be imagined that further refinements, expansions, and alterations will continue to increase the sense of authenticity whilst preserving the underlying game structure intact.


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Codex Martialis: Weapons of the Ancient World (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=63628)

Author: Jean Henri Chandler.
Contents: 120 portable document format black and white pages, 1 title and credit page, 5 contents pages, 19 pages of introduction, 82 pages of weapon statistics, 7 appendices pages, 4 bibliography and recommended media pages, and 2 open game license pages.
Publisher: Ire Games
Product Code: Not Applicable
Retail Price: $10.00

Overview

This is an expansion for the Codex Martialis combat system for D20/3e, and the first of two parts, dealing as it does with mêlée weapons, whilst the second part encompasses missile weapons and armour. More than one hundred types of weapon are presented in this supplement, almost all of which have an accompanying example image of the weapon they are describing, either being an extant historical weapon or as accurate a reproduction as has been managed. Although many of the images are freely available elsewhere, a number are much more difficult to find, and to see them all assembled in a single document with descriptions and statistics is impressive and useful indeed. Unlike many previous adventure game supplements of this sort, which have chiefly relied on books published many decades ago, incorporated inaccurate information from popular culture, or otherwise suffered from efforts to fit into an already established structure for the game they seek to augment, Weapons of the Ancient World makes excellent use of the many resources available, including modern historical research and practical experience on the part of the author and contributors. As such, it is decidedly free of the errors that are frequently repeated by adventure games.

As with the Codex Martialis rulebook, Weapons of the Ancient World incorporates a good number of public domain illustrations and interesting period anecdotes, which are wholly appropriate here. Moreover, the authorial voice is frank about its aims, clear in the information it seeks to impart, and pleasant to read. The glossary is useful and informative, as is the brief history of metallurgy, especially for anybody wishing to differentiate between various time periods or cultures in their campaign. By the same token, the weapon quality rules distinguishing between bronze, iron, steel, tempered steel, pattern welded steel, and wootz steel are well handled and should prove useful to anybody wishing to do so in their D20/3e game. The weapon list itself is extensive, and the numerous images, in many cases several for a single entry, spur the imagination and make it much easier for the reader to comprehend what is being described. Each entry is concise and to the point, and the author is clear when he is giving his own impressions of a weapon, as opposed to restating more academic opinions. The information in this book is not limited to the D20/3e system; the statistics are adaptable to just about any swords & sorcery type adventure game.

Criticism

Very few editing errors are apparent for a work of this scale, and it would seem that there are no spelling or grammatical errors to speak of. Since this work was originally released prior to the latest version of the Codex Martialis it contains several rules that were originally supplemental, but have since been incorporated into the main work; this extraneous information ought to be excised. The illustrations are a mixture of colour and black and white, and almost certainly will have to be rendered the latter in a cost effective printing, which may obscure some of the detail. In an ideal world, each image would be exactingly redrawn for a professional release, but that is likely wishful thinking! Although Weapons of the Ancient World is free of the inexactitudes that plague other such volumes, it might be said that it introduces its own prejudices when selectively reassigning the nomenclature. Certainly, Dungeons & Dragons owes more to Fritz Leiber in its use of "shortsword" and "longsword" than to a misunderstanding of medieval weapon designations. It should also be noted that there is some disagreement between the individual entries, the tables in the appendix and the Codex Martialis with regard to weapon characteristics.

Conclusion

Simply by virtue of its accuracy Weapons of the Ancient World stands head and shoulders above the vast majority of previous efforts for adventure games, including relatively modern efforts such as the Castellan’s Guide to Arms & Armour, whilst in scale and statistical utility it rivals the Palladium Book of Arms & Armour, but the huge number of authentic images that accompany this supplement gives it a really unique appeal to any gamer interested in ancient and medieval weapons. With a resource like this on hand, it will be a rare occasion when a game master is unable to visually answer the ubiquitous question "what sort of weapon is a such-and-such?" Indeed, aside from the layout, the chief way in which the utility of this work might be improved is through the addition of more illustrations and entries. A great deal of effort and knowledge has gone into the production of this work, and it is surely something to be proud of. Furthermore, as a "living" work any shortcomings it does display are likely to be fixed in subsequent updates for the immediate future. Given the impressive content, inexpensive price and availability of Weapons of the Ancient World there really is no reason not to own a copy.