







Introduction

Now in this series I have shared what are the Chainmail rules and how you can use them with (O)D&D. Now I will be sharing how I plan on using them in my next campaign after playtesting.





But before I do that, just some general points:

Without overhauling the whole system (like I will be doing next), you can still use some ideas here and there. For example, you could use the mass combat system as a Referee behind the scene to ease combat in a narrative way, especially with high level characters. Or you could use it specifically for domain level play.

The Fantasy system can be brutal but also useful for narrative fight against higher level creatures.

The biggest reason I decided to modify the Chainmail system is the Man-to-Man combat: having 2d6 as the attack resolution makes the whole system a cumberson thing since you cannot roll all at once. The other two main system (Fantasy and Mass) are easily and quickly resolved. The goal here was to basically put everything in simpler term to keep the speed of Chainmail combat.

Another way you can do it to simplify it is to roll all d6 at the same time and make pairs. For example, you have 5HD PC roll 5, 4, 3, 3, 2. That makes: 5+4=9, 3+3=6, 2. It lowers a lot the powercurve, but at least it makes it go faster.

I will now turn to my take on it. It was made in order to accomodate for d6 and faster roll but still keep the original math "almost" intact. Some of it is playtested (mostly combat), some of if isn't (such as Siege Warfare and Naval Warfare).





General Consideration

Hit Dice

Creatures have a number of attack for Mass Combat and Man-to-Man Combat equal to their HD. A creature can be "hit" a number of time equal to their HD. Numerical bonus are added always to the highest roll.





6s are always success and 1s are always failure, no matter bonuses.





Troop Type & Movement

There is three types of humanoid creatures type:





Troop Type Humanoid Description Small Creatures Description Approximate Movement per Turn/Minute (in Feet) Light Type Any humanoid that is unarmored, padded armor, leather armor or the equivalent. Small creatures and beasts, such as animals and giant insects or rats They move 80' per combat turn, 240' slow (in formation or exploration turn of 10 minutes), 480' fast (running for 10 minutes). Medium Type Any humanoid that is wearing hard armor or chain shirt. Low-power undead (zombie, skeletons, etc.), medium sized animals such as lions, etc. They move 60' per combat turn, 180' slow (in formation or exploration), 360' fast (in combat or running). Heavy Type Any humanoid that is wearing heavy chainmail or plate armor. Big humanoid creatures such as demi-ogres, powered undead such as Ghouls, etc. They move 40' per combat turn, 120' slow (in formation or exploration turn of 10 minutes), 240' fast (running for 10 minutes).

Horses triple movements and gives a +1 HD bonus. On the charge, they receive a +1 bonus. Being overburdened will slow half movement of any troop.

Time

In Mass Combat, each turn is about 30 to 60 seconds and has the following sequence: Both side declare general actions to be taken, including spells to be cast. Both opponents roll a die; the side with the higher score has the choice of electing to move first (Move) or last (Counter-move). If one side is ambushing or in major tactical advantage, the Referee can elect to instead give the choice to that side first. The side that has first move can: moves its figures; make a split move and fire; or make a missile fire. The side that has last move now makes the same sequence as the winning side in step 2 Artillery fire is taken. Magic is resolved. Creatures casting spells in melee or that are targetted by artillery/missile fire will have to postponed their spell to the other turn. Missile fire is taken. Melees are resolved. This include all types of melee, such as Man-to-Man and Fantasy Combat. Steps 1 through 7 are repeated throughout the remainder of the game. Hero Status

Characters with more than 4 HD are considered Heroes.

They can perform split-move and fire missile

They cannot be targetted by missile attack when in a melee or duel

They give +1 to morale roll of their unit and allies nearby

Morale

When a group is overrun, loses a third of its allies or in any other circumstances, make a Morale check. For this, roll 2d6 vs the morale score. If it fails by more than 1, the unit is routed or surrender (if the opponent is Law); if it fails by 1, it move back and tries to disengage; if its the equal, they stay in fight but might try to leave; if its more, then it is resolute in fighting.





Mass Combat

When humanoids fight together in group, use the Mass Combat rules. To resolve a Mass Combat, determine the attacker and the defender Troop type, roll 1d6 per HD and use the following matrix:

Att vs Def Light Troop Heavy Foot Armored Foot Light Foot 4 5 6 Heavy Foot 3 4 5 Armored Foot 2 3 4

Henchmen and Hirelings are 1/2 HD. Kobolds and goblins are 1/2 HD.

Peasants and weak creatures are 1/4 HD.

Groups that flank or back attack another group will automatically attack first.

For missile attack, use the Man-to-Man combat table.

When doing army battle, each non-hero unit is instead 20 member of a unit or formation to represent bigger numbers and turn are instead 10 minutes. Only hero status characters can move alone during battle. Other character have to be within a unit.

When the weather is bad (such as snow, storm, high wind, etc.), missile fire half HD with a minimum of one.

Man-to-Man





During a fight, if a duel is engaged or the fight is only between single opponents (or very small and controlled groups). Man-to-Man is resolved during melee portion of a Combat Turn. You can have two turns of Man-to-Man combat during one Combat Turn.



The initiative is given in this order:



Surprise;

Charging or receiving a charge with an appropriate counter-charge weapon such as a pike;

Weapon Class; or

Highest HD

To resolve combat, instead of using troop type, use the weapon type against armor type and roll one d6 per HD:





Weapon Class Melee Weapon vs Unarmored vs Light Armor* vs Heavy Armor** 1 Dagger 2+ 5+*** 6+*** 2 Club/Torch 4+ 5+ 6+ 2 Hand Axe 3+ 5+ 6+ 3 Mace 3+ 4+ 4+ 3 Battleaxe 2+ 3+ 6+ 4 Sword 2+ 4+ 5+ 5 Spear (throw as Javelin at -1) 3+ 4+ 5+ Weapon Class**** Ranged Weapon vs Unarmored vs Light Armor vs Heavy Armor 1 Sling (max 100’) 3+ 5+ 6+ 1 Short Bow (max 150’) 3+ 4+ 5+ 1 Composite Bow (max 300’) 2+ 3+ 4+ 5 Javelin (melee as spear, but more fragile) (max 150’) 3+ 4+ 5+

*Includes hide or thick leather creatures

**Includes creatures made of bone or other solid material (such as shells) ***+1 bonus against prone, grappled or pinned creatures when using this weapon ****For melee purposes

Additional Rules

Dual Wielding . When wielding two weapons, you can add +2 to your Weapon Class and you can use either to attack.

Melee Two Handed Wielding . When wielding a weapon with two hands, you can fight as if you had +1 HD for the purposes of determining the number of d6 for an attack.

Shields .

When wielding a shield, you can impose a -2 to the attacker (unless surprised).



Additionally, against ranged attack, you impose -1 to all dice roll at all time (unless surprised).

Parry.

If you have equal or higher Weapon Class than your opponent, you can decide to hold your attack to do a parry.



To do a parry, you roll a number of d6 equal to your HD. For every matching dice you have with the opponent attacking dice, you parry that attack.



For every dice that are not a match (and not a parry), you can make a counter-attack afterwards as a normal attack.



If you have a shield bigger than your opponent (or if he has no shield), you can reuse all dice for the counter-attack, even those that parried.



If you are one troop type lower than your opponent and not emcumbered, you can add one dice to your parry attempt.

Grappling .

. Attack as normal, without weapons. The successful attackers and defender both roll a combined number of d6's equal to their Hit Dice.



On a tie, both parties struggle, neither able to take action.



If the defender wins, he throws off all the successful attackers. They are stunned for a round. He may take his action as normal.



If the attackers win, the defender is pinned and helpless.





Fantasy Combat





When figthing against mythological or fantastical creatures of high HD, instead of using previous system, use the Fantasy Combat. Fantasy Combat is more narrative.

Movement & Space. Most high HD creatures are big enough that PCs can decide to be situated:

In front



In the back



On the side



Far from the creature (ranged)



Underneath or on the monster

Time and Sequence . Fantasy Combat uses the same sequence, but it can be adapted more liberally. Each Fantasy Creature uses his normal action according to the sequence. But in addition, they have one additional special action they take every turn. This action is revealed at the declaration of intent and takes effect at the end of the turn unless specified.

Action .

For PCs . To try and subdue a Fantasy Creature, perform a melee attack, grapple/climb on it, disengage, fire a missile weapon or any other special action, perform the following roll: 2d6 + HD against 6 + HD.



Above: PC can impose his action intended (including disengagement) on the Fantasy Creature. If the chosen action is to kill, then it loses 1 HD for every number above the target number.





Equal: PC can decide to change their range, their space compared to the creature, or force the creature to move back. This include disengagement. For missile attack, the attack inflict 1 HD.





Below: PC suffers an injury (1HD). For missile attack, if the PC is out of range, it doesn't suffer an injury.



For the Fantasy Creature . Roll 1d6 to determine the action according to the following table. Depending on the action taken, the Referee should suggest at the beginning of the turn what kind of action its taking (for example,a dragon gorging his neck with flames before a flame breath).

Big creatures can be targetted with siege weapon. In that case, a 9+ is a hit with a modifier of +2 or -2 being applied for:

Size



Type of weapon efficient or not against that creature



Movement of the creature (i.e. flying) 1d6 Result Example 1 Rest Dragon decide to step back few steps to create some space 2 - 3 Defensive Action Dragon makes a 360 to swipe his tail around in order to move everybody back (saving throw or 1 HD to those around him) 4 - 5 Offensive Action Fire breath in a cone in front 6 Special Attack Starts to fly for 1d3 turn

Fantasy Combat extras:

Fantasy Monsters .

Fantasy Monsters statline needs to be taken more strategically and less tactically. In other words, preparation needs to be taken into account more. This requires to have research be possible for players (or rumors) to identify weakness and strengths of monster. This can even be aimed at specific body part or phase of attack (for example, the dragon gorging his neck with flame is weaker at that spot during this action). This can be translated directly into a flat bonus to the dice roll, or an added effect (won't be able to use his flame breath for the rest of the fight).



Fantasy Monsters needs to be built inside the folklore and myths of your world to accomodate for this. It also help provide better information on monsters through study. It is suggested to determined weakness, strength and special attack with the user of the Monster Manual.

Alternate card system . Another way of deciding the attack requires more preparation. This is the way I will be going.

You have to rewrite all statline entries, description, type, etc.



Take a deck of card. For each number from 1 to Queen, write down an associated type of attack. The card type (diamond, heart, spade, square) represents where they will do the attack (in front of them in a cone/line, around them in front, around them in the back, 360 around). Those attack needs to be general (for example: slam) enough because they will be used for all creature.



For every Fantasy Creature, write down their "deck". Aces represents rest and all creature should have one. When PCs fight against that creature, pick up their corresponding deck and shuffle it face down.



At the beginning of the turn, flip one card and tell a "Q" to their player regarding what the creature will do. The deck stays in the same order, meaning that if the fight stays long enough, they can start to predict what actions the monster will be doing.

Siege Warfare



Each defensive fortification has a type (wood, reinforced wood, stone, reinforced stone), defensive mechanism possible to be used from the fortification and a number of structural points rendered as HD for the sake of simplicity.

Defensive Structure Type HD Defensive Mechanism Wooden Walls/Palisade Wood 4 Moat, spikes, oil, stone Wooden Portcullis Reinforced Wood 7 Oil, stone Wooden Tower Reinforced Wood 6 Moat, spikes, oil, stone Round Tower Stone 8 Moat, spikes, oil, stone, catapult, balista Gatehouse Reinforced Stone 9 Oil, stone, catapult, balista Stone Wall Stone 7 Moat, spikes, oil, stone Stone Rampart Reinforced Stone 10 Moat, spikes, oil, stone

For siege warfare, use the following matrix with 2d6 according to the type of attacking mechanism and defense type. Each hit creates a small breech (1 HD of damage). At 1-2 HD, the structure is collapsing and can be infiltrated, at 0 HD, the structure is thoroughly breached or destroyed (depending on the type).





Def. Structure vs Att. Mechanism Battering Ram Ballista Catapult Trebuchet Bombard Mangonel Magical Weapon Wooden Walls/Palisade 6 7 6 5 4 7 10 Wooden Portcullis 4 7 4 4 4 5 11 Wooden Tower 7 10 7 6 4 8 12 Round Tower Nil Nil 11 9 5 12 Nil Gatehouse 12 Nil 10 9 5 11 Nil Stone Wall Nil Nil 10 9 7 11 Nil Stone Rampart Nil Nil Nil 12 10 Nil Nil





There exist also non-offensive structure which offer other possibilities, such as ladder, mining tunnel, siege tower and so on.





Lightning bolt are considered as ballista, Fireball as catapult, Bigby's hand as a battering ram (with the possibility on 12 to break stone fortifications), and other spells as a magical weapon.





Naval Warfare





Ships have Hull Points (rendered as HD for the sake of simplicity), Move, Crew Morale, Hull Type and Weapons (those that are possible to mount).

A ship with less than 50% HD will lose efficiency (-1 to all dice roll). A ship with 0 HD will sink.

Move determine the number of move it can make per turn (i.e. manoeuvrability). A ship can decide to exchange one move to do a split-move missile fire with another move. Everytime it is hit, there is a 50% that whatever is hit is part of the manoeuvring capacity of the ship (sail, paddle, anchor, etc.) and make the ship lose 1 Move. A ship with 0 move cannot sail, it can slowly float without real guidance and is an easy target. Any non-moving ship is hit at +2.

Hull type signifies the type of structure that protect the ship. Same rules as siege for weapons. Shell and magically reinforced hull count as being made of stone for the sake of siege engine.

Crew morale is used after each hit to determine if some are afraid or losing the will to fight. After two fail in a row, the crew abandonned the ship by making a reaction roll to determine the types of action it takes (for example, either leaving on their on by ways of water or throwing the captain out of the ship). Alchemist Fire or other such device require a morale check. If the check is missed, people will start being routed and the ship will loose 1 HD. Every turn a new check can be made until it is successful and the fire is put out.

Alchemist Fire or other such device require a morale check. If the check is missed, people will start being routed and the ship will loose 1 HD. Every turn a new check can be made until it is successful and the fire is put out. Air fight could use the same rule (with creatures interpreted with the Fantasy Creatures rules), but in the air.

Ship Type HD Move Crew Morale Hull Type Weapons Capacity Fishing Ship 1 2 5 Wood Man-held only 10 Commerce Ship 2 3 6 Wood One small balista (at -1) 15 Civilian Transport Vessel 2 2 6 Wood One small balista (at -1) 25 Keftion 3 3 8 Wood Ballista, magnonel 25 Triere 4 2 8 Reinforced Wood Ballista, magnonel. Front is considered a battering ram. 30 Bireme 4 2 8 Wood Ballista, magnonel, catapult 40 Pentakonter 6 3 9 Reinforced Wood Ballista, magnonel, catapult, trebuchet, bombard. Front is considered a battering ram 60 Dromon 6 2 10 Reinforced Wood Ballista, magnonel, catapult, trebuchet, bombard. Front is considered a battering ram. 60 Nava 5 4 10 Reinforced Wood Ballista, magnonel, bombard 50 Khelandion 8 2 11 Reinforced Wood Ballista, magnonel, catapult, trebuchet, bombard. Front is considered a battering ram. 80 Geobukseon 6 2 10 Stone* One of any type, at the front. Front is considered a battering ram +1. 50

CONCLUSION

That covers this three-part series of blogpost on Chainmail. I hope this helped people either figure out how you can play it and how people can integrate it into their games. To be honest, I cannot go back to not dividing the types of combat: it gives to the Referee much more layway, mechanical specificity and narrative freedom.



