HYPERBOREA / BtB Combat, or something else?

**Posted by Rastus_Burne** 1/27/2015 2:00 am

Hi guys,

I was wondering how many of the users here run combat more or less as presented in the rules? If you don't is there a system you do draw from? 1e/2e? 3e? B/X? something else?

**Posted by joseph** 1/27/2015 8:45 am

I run it btb. It seemed complicated at first, but it really isn't once you do it a few times. It has a certain realism that I like as well.

Early on, I monkeyed with ascending AC since people in my group had become accustomed to that, but scrapped it. Now, it's opposite - in a recent game of 5e, saw that his AC would be 14 and said "that's terrible...oh wait."

Things I Worked On · **Posted by Ynas Midgard** 1/27/2015 9:16 am

We've been playing by the book as much as possible to really get a feel of the combat system. It's been great, but there are certain rules I am thinking of implementing. I have already introduced a social combat system, and I'm thinking about further differentiating weapons by assigning them minimal-rules qualities. Weapon and armour degredation also sound interesting, but I'm not sure it would add much to the game.

**Posted by Chainsaw** 1/27/2015 9:26 am

I've been using a simplified system, amounting to a) initiative and then b) winning side goes first in order of dex (where relevant). I initially delayed implementing the combat phases rules so I could focus on learning other elements of AS&SH, which I had not run before, and facilitating a decent G+ experience, which was new to me as well, but we are fast approaching a level of proficiency in both that should enable a move to phases. We'll see!

Regardless, Maezar's wonderful little combat cheat-sheet should come in handy.

**Posted by Rastus_Burne** 1/27/2015 2:54 pm

Good to know how everyone's doing it. When I run a game I'm looking to keep it as accurate as fun allows, but if the learning curve is too steep I could imagine my players getting put off. Learning new rules is not a problem for me (I like it actually), but I'm aware other people find adopting new systems unpleasant when they're used to a certain thing.

**Posted by joseph** 1/28/2015 10:15 am

Rastus,
One of the things that helped me keep the combat running smoothly is a dry - erase initiative board.

I set mine up with the two phases, along with the segments, as detailed in the chart in the book. This I did in permanent marker. As I ask players what they want to do, I write the character names into the proper segments which makes an easy to follow chart.

**Posted by mabon5127** 1/28/2015 11:12 am

I use d6 initiative with characters taking their action around the table. I know its boring but it moves along very quickly.

Morgan

**Posted by Blackadder23** 1/28/2015 11:21 am

mabon5127 wrote:
I use d6 initiative with characters taking their action around the table. I know its boring but it moves along very quickly.

Morgan

I actually seat the players from highest to lowest PC dexterity, starting on my left! Combat moves very quickly. I don't use the phases BTB, but casters do have to announce their spells before initiative is rolled. If they get hit before they can take their action, they lose the spell. Tough luck for them!

**Posted by Rastus_Burne** 1/28/2015 2:59 pm

I'm not at all opposed to a simple system (like roll d6 and go), in fact I'll probably initially do that, with character intentions being announced beforehand. I'll also read through the two phase combat rules though, and if it doesn't seem like too big of a leap initially, I'll go ahead and dive right in!

**Posted by Philotomy** 7/19/2016 3:51 am

I haven't run a session yet, and I'm still undecided on whether I will try the BTB system or not. I already use a phased system that I'm very familiar with; I might just stick with that. While the two systems aren't the same, they do share some similarities, and in practice I think a lot of rounds would work out pretty much the same under either system.

**Posted by Ghul** 7/19/2016 6:09 am

Philotomy wrote:
I haven't run a session yet, and I'm still undecided on whether I will try the BTB system or not. I already use a phased system that I'm very familiar with; I might just stick with that. While the two systems aren't the same, they do share some similarities, and in practice I think a lot of rounds would work out pretty much the same under either system.

I rarely mention the term "phase" at the gaming table. I ask folks to announce their actions, then we roll initiative. Most of the time what they want to do is going to happen on phase 1, less often, phase 2. I will sometimes inform the player that, in cases of the latter, they will be going at the end of the round, regardless of winning initiative or not. In other cases, I determine that what they want to do is going to take two rounds. It seems to run pretty smoothly for us.

**Posted by Philotomy** 7/19/2016 2:22 pm

Ghul wrote:
I rarely mention the term "phase" at the gaming table. I ask folks to announce their actions, then we roll initiative. Most of the time what they want to do is going to happen on phase 1, less often, phase 2. I will sometimes inform the player that, in cases of the latter, they will be going at the end of the round, regardless of winning initiative or not. In other cases, I determine that what they want to do is going to take two rounds. It seems to run pretty smoothly for us.

Yeah, I'm the same (i.e., the term "phase" doesn't really come up, I just kind of run the combat). I'll probably give BTB a try.

Things I Worked On · **Posted by Ynas Midgard** 7/20/2016 6:43 am

Well, my group is comprised of mostly hardcore board gamers, so they frequently discussed their tactics in terms of phases (but I actually enjoyed it; I mean, they played the simplest fights as hard as any other, and they liked the system's simplicity combined with just enough tactical depth that their decisions mattered).

Anyhow, I didn't find the combat system too hard to master; it did require a thorough reading of the chapter, but that combined with the power of that cheat sheet that's been shared on this forum (I printed one copy for everyone around the table) made things pretty smooth.

**Posted by Chainsaw** 7/20/2016 7:01 pm

Chainsaw on January 27, 2015 wrote:
I've been using a simplified system, amounting to a) initiative and then b) winning side goes first in order of dex (where relevant). I initially delayed implementing the combat phases rules so I could focus on learning other elements of AS&SH, which I had not run before, and facilitating a decent G+ experience, which was new to me as well, but we are fast approaching a level of proficiency in both that should enable a move to phases. We'll see!

Never really ended up using the phases, though the order of melee-magic-missile tends to vary according to the situation (i.e., relative position of combatants).

**Posted by Doctor_Rob** 7/22/2016 6:48 am

We usually simply forget to implement phases, so actors do their thing on their initiative (D6). Works just fine, although I'd like to implement phasing at some stage to see what difference it makes.

Rob

**Posted by francisca** 7/23/2016 1:59 pm