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View Full Version : Original System Reach weapons in TotM



Lalliman
2017-03-05, 10:21 AM
So I'm using a heavily modified version of Barbarians of Lemuria, an obscure lightweight system that's meant to be played in TotM (Theatre of the Mind). I'm doing a big overhaul though, so it's effectively an original system now.

The combat in this game is quite simple. To attack, you roll 2d6 + Agility + the relevant weapon skill, and compare the result to your opponent's Defence. On hit, your choice of weapon determines the size of your damage die, and you add your Strength to the damage roll.

Aside from the size of their damage die, all weapons are mechanically identical. A pike, a warhammer and a katana are all two-handed weapons, so their damage die is d8. I like the simplicity of this, but I also wanted to give the different weapons a bit more of an identity.

So I created weapon specialisation perks. Players can pick up these perks in place of a stat increase, in order to get bonuses when using their weapon of choice. It's not a boring +1 bonus like in D&D 3.5, but something very flavourful to the weapon in question. Daggers pierce armour, axes have a chance to cleave, maces have a chance to break weapons and shields, etc.

That brings me to polearms. In a system where distance isn't accurately measured and opportunity attacks don't exist, what kind of bonus can I give to a polearm wielder to flavourfully represent the benefits of a long-hafted weapon? I'm kind of stuck on this one, so I'm eager to hear whatever ideas the forum has to offer.

Siosilvar
2017-03-05, 07:10 PM
Is there a flexible turn order? You could have polearms strike before all other weapons to represent their reach, or gain a large bonus on the first round of combat.

Mith
2017-03-05, 07:35 PM
What about a boost to Defense, as the opponent will have to move through more area to reach you? Combining this with the flexible Turn Order would work. Although in this case, I think you would want them to take a penalty to keep them slower, so that they get a boost to damage die, and to defense, but they attack later.