Chainmail Revisited (Weapon vs. AC Reborn?)

A recent post over at A Paladin in Citadel has got me thinking about Chainmail (and thus Weapon vs. AC tables) again. I very much like the system proposed, due to its marvelous simplicity; however, it suffers from the same problem that I ran into in my own attempts to implement a Chainmail-esque combat system. Unlike the alternate d20 system that subsequently became the norm, hit points never outpace damage per round in Chainmail combat. A 9HD creature has the potential to kill 9HD worth of opponents per round. This leads to short, deadly and (most importantly) boring combat.

This did not stop me from re-reading my LBBs with Chainmail in mind, however. As a result I ran into a very interesting tid-bit:

All attacks which score hits do 1-6 points damage unless otherwise noted.

On its own, this is not earth-shattering; however, this appears as part of the Alternate Combat System. This got me thinking — what if variable damage was not used if the Chainmail combat rules were in place? Rather than doing d6 hp damage per hit, everyone (unless noted — more on that later) would simply do 1 hp damage per hit.

Without having play tested this idea, there are some immediate consequences that come to mind:

• On average I would expect combat to last a little longer.
• Tactics would prove vital — figuring out how to focus attacks on a single target (and getting the right type of weapon vs. armor to increase the chance for a hit with a Weapon vs. AC table) would be key.
• Morale would play a much greater role in combat (and might actually help keep combats short).
• Creatures such as Ogres, Giants and Dragons would be truly terrifying, because they are capable of doing variable damage per hit.
• Having a +1 damage on anything would be a huge bonus.
• And most importantly, hit points outpace damage beginning at first level. Combat is still deadly, but no one is going to die from a single hit unless they have 1 hp (or are stupid enough to take on an Ogre, Giant or Dragon).

My obsession with finding a workable Weapon vs. Armor table may very well have found a second life...

A Fist Full of Dice

I have a soft spot for Weapon vs AC tables. They are a remnant of the Chainmail rules and represent another level of tactical choice within combat. The problem with them has always been complexity — they just are too ungainly to use. Recently, I was looking at the Chainmail rules and had a bit of an "Aha" moment. The reason the Weapon vs AC tables work in Chainmail, is that the to hit number remains static. It doesn't matter who is wielding the weapon — that particular weapon will always need the same number on the die to hit that particular AC.

This is why Weapon vs AC tables have never transfered well into the alternate combat system in the LBBs, which went on to become the standard in later editions — the to hit number is determined by character class and level, not the weapon used. Thus, Weapon vs AC tables have since then consisted of a bunch of unwieldy to hit modifiers.

The secret, then, to using a Weapon vs AC table is to tweak the system so that weapons determine the to hit number, not character class and level. This can rather easily be done if, as in Ruins & Ronin (and 3rd ed), characters are given attack bonuses based on character class and level. Thus, on an attack roll a player totals the attack bonuses and penalties to the to hit roll and compares it to the target number provided by a Weapon vs AC table.

There is another option, however, and it is provided by the LBBs. When using the Chainmail combat system, characters would progress according to troop type as they gained levels. For example, a 4th level fighting man fought as a Hero. This progression resulted in more opportunities to hit, not in an easier number to hit. Thus, one way to utilize a Weapon vs AC table would be to translate the old LBB Chainmail combat classifications into number of d20s to roll per round. Despite the greater number of opportunities to hit, this system results in about the same number of hits, because the target numbers remain the same — I've run a number of simulations. If anything, at higher levels combat moves a tad bit faster and allows fighters to be a bit more powerful.

Besides the added tactical wrinkle, there is one big advantage to this rules tweek. The higher level a character gets, the more dice you get to throw. Personally, I have always enjoyed the tactile wonder of a fist full of dice and seeing them roll across the table.