A New Look at Combat (Part 11): Simplified Tactical Methods

For some people, the tactics presented in previous posts (Defining a System for Tactical Methods and Interaction of Tactical Methods) may be too detailed, or they may want a simpler way to transition into thinking about tactics from the character’s point-of-view, or understanding how they work. With that in mind, I decided it would be a good idea to post a simplification – it pares nine tactics down into five easy-to-understand categories and alleviates the need to cross-reference a table for bonuses.

The first is Direct, which is a simple and balanced attack and defense without any setup. The next two are Offensive (aggressively attacking without much regard to safety) and Defensive (emphasis on protecting oneself and forgoing many opportunities to attack). The last two are designed to exploit those, being Counter-Offensive (anticipating the opponent’s attack in order to counter it), and Counter-Defensive (anticipating the opponent’s defense in order to nullify it). Naturally, the Counter-Offensive tactic works great against an Offensive opponent, and poorly against a Defensive one, but it also works well against a Direct attack, and horribly against a Counter-Defensive opponent.

The bonuses and penalties that follow apply to the attack or offense roll. Each combatant looks at their chosen tactic, finds the bonus or penalty listed after the tactic the opponent chose, and applies it to his roll (if the opponent’s tactic isn’t listed, it means there is no bonus or penalty to the roll). Each tactic also lists a reminder that there is an additional -2 penalty if their opponent is disengaged.

Direct	attacking and defending as quickly as possible
	(additional -2 if opponent is Disengaged) Offensive: +2 Defensive: -2 Counter-Defensive: +2
Offensive	aggressively attacking without regard to safety
	(additional -2 if opponent is Disengaged) Direct: +2 Offensive: +4 Counter-Defensive: +4
Defensive	emphasis on protecting oneself and forgoing many opportunities to attack
	(additional -2 if opponent is Disengaged) Direct: -2 Defensive: -4 Counter-Offensive: -2 Counter-Defensive: -2
Counter-Offensive	anticipating the opponent’s attack in order to counter it
	(additional -2 if opponent is Disengaged) Direct: +2 Offensive: +2 Defensive: -4
Counter-Defensive	anticipating the opponent’s defense in order to nullify it
	(additional -2 if opponent is Disengaged) Offensive: +2 Counter-Offensive: +2

This simple abstraction can accommodate a wide variety of actions; the specific tactics described in previous posts roughly fit into these categories (Target Extremities and Draw and Counter are both Counter-Offensive methods, while Beat the Weapon Aside and Indirect attacks are both Counter-Defensive methods). However, when using these simplified general categories, some bonuses may not make sense in the context of specific descriptions of the combat. In this case, the bonus can be modified as the GM sees fit, or the more detailed rules in previous posts can be used.

A New Look at Combat (index)