Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I’ve always rejected the whole “combat in OSR is punishment for stupid players,” or “combat should be a last resort in OSR style games” etc.
I’ve always found fighting to be a major part of the joy of roleplaying games, and simple refuse to believe I’m alone in this - hack and slash AD&D sessions were de rigeur for our gaming party, and I liked it from both the DM chair or the player side of things.
Recently, I’ve seen a lot of posts asking how to make combat “fun” in OSR style play.
Like many of my titles, maybe this one is a little misleading, too - I already think it’s fun. But that may be something to do with the play and DM style developed at my table over the years, so I figured I’d share some of my ideas, and others that I’ve ruthlessly stolen from elsewhere and glommed on to my games.
Read on, oh intrepid one, but please - not before subscribing to my ever-so-helpful blog posts! (also, please consider sharing, and thank you!)
Ok, let’s dive in.
1) Tell a story with your combats - don’t just fall into the lazy DM/player trap of “I attack…” “You miss.” “I attack again.” “You hit.” “I roll 3 damage.”
100% this kind of play is a bore for me. I much prefer when players tell me “Aghar the Plainsman pulls his broadsword and takes a mighty overhand swing at the horse thief’s leader,” or something to this effect. Sure, it can get overdone, and some of the exchanges might be fast and furious rolling to get to the “effect” part, but no DM should just rely on “you miss. He attacks. He hits.”
Engage with the narrative - that’s why most of us are at the table…right? To have fun and feel involved with a story? On a miss, be a bit descriptive - you don’t have to go full “theatre kid,” but “Aghar’s overhand swing goes recklessly wide, smashing the table in half and spilling wine all over the floor.” This can also play into “environment” stuff, which I cover a bit later.
2) Make morale checks - often.
Sure, some monsters are just going to stay swinging - ghouls gonna ghoul and all that, but intelligent foes are generally not treating everything as a fight to the bitter bloody end.
I use morale checks when an enemy is critically hit, when an enemy reaches 1/2 hp, when the enemy party is reduced to 1/2 strength, and also will make morale checks sometimes when things happen fast. As in, the players side downs several of their opponents in a single round of combat, and they start thinking they might have bit off more than they wanted to chew on.
Remember to use morale fairly and often, and allow enemies to run, to regroup and fight another day. This makes aggressive tactics rewarding, and can allow the PCs to rout a larger group rather than grinding it out fighting every last one of them.
3) Make Clear Explanations and Rational Decisions - some of this depends on the enemies (again, ghouls and other unintelligent foes may have poor tactical decisions), but make sure you describe the action clearly to your players if you’re not using minis. If you are using them, make sure you explain which aspects of the environment are on the table, as it were. Sometimes players assume that the dressing of a table set-up are like the stuff you can’t click on or destroy in video games - just for looks.
Let them know what’s there.
Make sure they understand that the enemies will make tactical decisions rationally as well. If players get the urge to immediately gang up and slaughter “tank” enemies, or try to kill spellcasters before they can drop that fireball spell, let your enemies do the same thing. Perceived threat is a major factor in who attacks who and with how many of their friends.
4) Environment and complications - this one has been talked about a lot, and there’s not always a good environmental interaction in every combat scene. But - I’ve had players driven nuts by missile troops on a balcony in a dungeon room they couldn’t get up to via that same room. Forcing them to double back and try to find their way around.
I’ve seen players throw heavy objects from above in tavern confrontations, crushing those on the main floor with bookshelves, furniture, and in one case, a dead enemy.
Utilizing bridges, bottlenecks, inaccessible areas, traps, and even simple stuff like oil lamps, ropes, the ever-popular chandelier and so on makes combat more memorable and fun.
Remember to reward players for doing cool things - you’re supposed to want it to be a cool, fun game, and you’re not fighting against the PCs. Let them do the awesome stuff they want to, and make a fair judgement on what happens - that’s the job.
5) You don’t have to make up complicated new rules to make things work - allow long weapons like spears and polearms to be used to make formations. Swordsmen up front, spear or pikemen behind them, unable to be attacked, but still able to attack. These are great ways to defend weaker party members and so on.
Missile weapons, likewise, are always a huge gamechanger in my combats.
Enemies with multiple loaded crossbows, or ones who are good shots with flunkies handing them pre-loaded ones and so on can create a murderous wall of missile fire that can be used by either side.
Players can lure enemies from their own setups back through murder alleys where their own archers are posted up, or melee troops can make like the Frankish troops of old and let loose with a volley of thrown hatchets before engaging in close combat.
A little thinking makes things pretty serious for unprepared players or enemies.
Always reward good thinking and planning from your players.
6) Running and regrouping - sometimes you can run the same tactic again by…running. Getting out of a bad scene, regrouping, and assaulting it again, or switching tactics and going back in can make all the difference instead of standing toe to toe trading blows with that unlucky 20 sider.
Make sure enemies do this too. A lot of times my players learn tactics from savvy opponents first. The hard way.
OK, that’s 6…so there was a bonus one.
Point being - you don’t need fancy rule sets to enjoy combat or make it more tactically satisfying.
And, you don’t need to view combat as a punishment for careless players.
If I ain’t fighting, I ain’t staying in that DM’s game!
Let me know your own tips and tricks in the comments, please - I’m always on the lookout for more good stuff.
Keep your blades sharp,
- Castle Grief
I love combat and my PCs love it.
Totally agree with not treating combat as a fail state. Combat is one of the most fun parts of the game and makes up the majority of the rules in most OSR books.