Building Bhakashal - Let it Ride!

One of the things I love about D&D is that it can go places you don’t expect. My Friday group has spent entire sessions equipping themselves for adventures, “digging a hobbit hole” for a group headquarters, gambling with sailors, you name it. I don’t “guide” players either explicitly or implicitly, part of the agreement between referee and players at our table is that the players can do whatever they want, I’m not there to be the fun police, or to tell them they are “playing it wrong”.  I've learned to trust my players to direct the action with their choices, rather than imposing my "vision" of what constitutes an exciting, engaging session. This approach has proven fruitful and fun.

My job is to create a game world, and have the game world react to the actions of the players, whatever they may be. The brilliance of D&D is that this approach leads to both the players and the referee being surprised by what happens. That’s pure gold.

So my Friday group finished off Ghost Tower of Inverness a few weeks back. They were heading back to rendezvous with the ship that would take them home. They lost two party members in the Tower, and were going to roll up two new PCs upon arrival back in the city. The journey produced a random encounter, and I rolled ogres. I use the listed number appearing for random encounters, and I rolled… 16 ogres. When a table throws me something like this it immediately makes me think, “why would 16 ogres be wandering about?”

For me random tables are prompts, what you do with them is what’s important. I decided that they were transporting something important, something so important that you would need 16 ogres to protect it. On the spot I made up a magic item.

Ashfallen: intelligent +4 battle axe, +8 versus undead, on a critical hit, undead must save versus death magic or be destroyed. Ashfallen is cursed, once you grasp it the weapon will transport itself into your hands whenever you try to attack anything (I stole this idea from Tamoachan)

So if you take the axe there is no spell casting or using any other weapon in combat. Now, ogres aren’t particularly bright, so they needed a leader. I decided on an ogre magi. My players hadn’t encountered an ogre magi before, so that would be fun. Because the axe became your permanent companion once you pick it up, it was in a chest and being carried on a giant boar, ridden by the ogre magi. Jimag the Bronze, ogre magi, was taking Ashfallen to a warlock who wanted the weapon. His escort was there as a vampire, Ghamaalin, wanted to destroy the axe and could show up. I decided on a 1 in 20 chance that the vampire would show up during the encounter. I rolled surprise and none was indicated. I rolled an encounter distance of 150’

The party saw the ogres and the ogres saw the party. There was some discussion about the danger of fighting 16 ogres, but they were hot off their victory in the tower and feeling like showing off. So they decided to engage. The ogres were traveling in formation, two in the lead, twelve and the ogre magi in a group and two behind. The two party tanks, a fighter and a slayer (Bhakashal ranger/assassin) took on the two lead ogres. The ogre magi halted the procession to size up the threat.

The slayer and the fighter were 7th and 8th level respectively, so they are fairly formidable in combat. They both won initiative and struck successfully, doing good damage but not slaying either ogre. Then the ogres hit back. At my table ogres do 1-10 damage on a hit, plus 6 damage from their strength. When one of the ogres did 15 hp damage with one strike, that got their attention. Still, the party fighter is now at the 3/2 attacks per round stage, and the slayer gets mad bonuses against giant creatures, so they are pretty badass .

The fight was over in three rounds, and the ogres fell. At that point the ogre magi decided that the party was a real threat, and cast a cone of cold on the party fighter. The fighter failed his save and took 50 hp damage . The whole group was silent after that, looking at each other and realizing that they could potentially be one-shot killed at any second. They didn’t know that the ogre magi could only cast a cone of cold once per day. I wasn’t going to tell them!

While the fight was going on, the party magic-user (6th level) has invisibility and crept up close enough to the main group of ogres to use ESP on the ogre magi, he discovered that they were transporting a powerful artifact in the chest on the giant boar. The ogre magi shouted a warning at the party and told them not to follow or they would be destroyed, and pulled away to leave. The party decided to let them go and regroup. Then the discussion started, should they pursue, should they leave them be?

When discussions like this happen I often leave the table, take a break, and let them hash it out. I don’t want to bias the decision, and I want to give them an opportunity to talk without me listening in. Let them plan without me knowing to emulate the enemy not knowing. When I returned they had decided that they wanted that artifact, and they were going to pursue it. Fortunately they had a slayer in the group who could track, and the conditions were ideal, so they followed the ogres from a distance for 5 hours until they set down for the night

That was session 1. In session 2, picture the scene, 14 ogres and an ogre magi setting down for the night, some immediately went to sleep, others set a watch, several gambled, a few clubbed or speared small game for food and cooked it over fires, etc.

The party waited in the forest for three hours until the ogres were all either sleeping or keeping watch, and executed their plan. The frontal assault had proven dangerous, and they decided to try something else. The party magic-user had memorized invisibility twice, so she cast it on the party fighter and he snuck into the camp while most of the ogres were sleeping and mounted the giant boar, planning to ride it away with the axe. Unfortunately, when he woke the boar and started to move it woke up the ogres around it… and the ogre magi.

Just to be clear, I rolled for that, it wasn’t automatic that he would wake anyone, I treated it as a surprise roll as he was trying to do things quietly. The ogres, however, were not surprised, so the giant boar made enough noise to alert them to it’s departure. The ogre shouted a command at the boar and it stopped, he could see the reins floating in mid air and figured out what was happening. He shouted out to the ogres that there was an intruder in the camp and took out his naginata. At this point the fighter realized he was alone in a camp of 14 ogres and their powerful leader, he knew enough of the grappling rules to know that he was in big trouble. So he leapt off the giant boar and bolted, invisibly, through the waking ogre horde to get back to the party.  The ogres broke camp and left. At this juncture they could have decided to give this up, the ogres are very challenging, and this was a random encounter, they had a Soul Gem to return, and new PCs to roll up. Some referees would have pushed them to abandon the axe and move on.

But that’s not how we roll. I left it to the players, press on or leave? They talked about it and decided that it was time to press on, they wanted that axe! They camped out and slept to regain spells and rest, counting on the slayers tracking and that the ogres would have to make camp again as they had interrupted their sleep. They followed the trail again and caught up to the ogres as they made camp again. At that point we broke for session 2. When we got back for session 3 they came up with a new plan. This time the party priest got close enough to cast Command.

Fortunately, the ogres understood enough common tongue that they could understand a Command. He told one ogre to “fight”, and the ogre failed his save, then took out his club and smacked another ogre, doing good damage. The other ogre got pretty upset, and whacked him back. While they were fighting the priest cast command again, and two more ogres got into a brawl. I roll on the spot for HP, and two rounds later two ogres were dead and two more were wounded. That left 12 of the original 16 ogres around.

The camp was in chaos at this point, as ogres aren’t so smart and once the brawling started it spread. The ogre magi bellowed commands for the fighting to stop, not yet realizing that there was magic afoot. The priest tried one more command, and it also worked (ogre saves are not that good). The ogre magi cornered the ogre that started the first fight and asked him why, he replied that he didn’t know, and the ogre magi suspected the party must be around and using magic to cause the chaos. He ordered a retreat and I rolled a morale check, they passed and left with him. 

 

The party decided they would repeat the strategy, letting the ogres leave and attacking with stealth later. Before pursuing, the party priest cast Animate Dead on two dead ogres and created two ogre zombies to accompany them. I decided that using their dead allies against them would trigger a morale check. They pursued for hours again, maintaining distance and hoping that the ogres would stop again and they could pull off another ambush. However, since the party came back twice so far I rolled to see if the ogre magi would go on the offensive or not. 

Ogre magi are smart, average to exceptional intelligence, so it was possible that it would decide to stand and fight when fleeing wasn’t working, and it would definitely assume the party was pursuing. Fool me once and all that. So this time the ogres slowed down, anticipating the party would try the same stunt, and instead of catching up to a camped down group of ogres, the party caught up when the ogres were in transit. We stopped there for session 3

Session 4 the party had to decide to engage or not. This time the ogres were ready, they dispatched two ogres to trail behind the main group and try and ambush the party if they caught up. When the party was about 100 or so feet from the ogres, the two who held back attacked.

They exploded from the forest and gained surprise. Clubs and spears were used to good effect, one of the party magic-users was knocked down to 3 hp with a critical hit that doubled damage (I roll for monster criticals rather than choose), the party fighter, who was only partially healed from the cone of cold, also took a solid blow that knocked him over. While this was happening the ogre magi sent one ogre off on the giant boar with the axe and went invisible, flying into the sky above the party, and the remaining 9 ogres formed into a dispersed line and charged the party.

They were focused on the ogres that surprised them, so they did not respond as the ogres charged. Some intense melee from the party tanks (which includes the party Spartan - Bhakashal monk) took down the two ambushing ogres. At this point almost everyone in the party had taken damage, a few of them heavy damage, so they were definitely pushing their luck. But they wanted that axe! By the time they finished off the ambushing ogres the rest had charged to greet them.

On charge the longest weapon strikes first with a +2 to hit, and the ogres had large clubs and spears. So all of the ogres struck first! The party hadn’t ever encountered a charging line, all with long weapons like this, and they watched in horror as I rolled 9 consecutive attacks without response. The party did respond, and they did represent well, two ogres went down (the two were the wounded ones from the last attack), and I rolled a morale check when the zombie ogres attacked. They made the check, and then the ogre magi, invisible and flying above, cast cone of cold

I rolled exceptionally well, and the party bard, who is a HP sink (triple classing will do that) went down to 2 hp in one shot! The party priest had the zombie ogres protect him immediately and the rest of the ogres pressed their attack, hoping to turn the tide. There were now 7 ogres and an ogre magi left to fight them. We broke for the session at that point, and next week they will be right in it. 

One of the things I love about this game is that it really does respond to player choices. They decided to skirmish fight with a large enemy force, so that’s what we did. This skirmish fighting involved a lot of planning, hit and run tactics, and persistence, whittling away at the enemy to gain advantage. And it has lasted four straight sessions. Now, if I was “story focused” I might do something to end this, as four sessions of fighting would be “too much”. 

But to interfere in this would be to interfere in what makes D&D so freaking awesome. THIS IS WHAT THE PLAYERS WANT. Sometimes they want to shop for supplies, sometimes they want to gamble with the sailors, and sometimes they want to skirmish fight with a bunch of ogres. Interrupting the flow of the game to assert “narrative control” and “tell a story” is an anathema to me for this reason. These have been exciting, nail biting sessions, and we wouldn’t have had them at all without random encounters (something that narrative focused refs often decry) and party direction as to what to do.

They are afraid for their lives, they suspect they can win, but they may take losses to do so. Still, they want that artifact, not knowing it’s curse though, and they will do what it takes to get it. They have displayed some tactical thinking (the Command trick was inspired) and used the party’s abilities well. This is the zone for gaming IMO, with the players fully engaged and excited about achieving a goal, and the risks associated with that goal are high. 

What they don’t know is that there is ANOTHER party looking to snatch the Soul Gem from them, this other party has commandeered the ship that is to take them home, and are waiting for the party to emerge from the forest. So if they exhaust themselves to get that artifact, then they are going to be in for a difficult time when they reach the ship.

None of this was planned, and none of this was anticipated, which makes it all the better. The players are surprised, I was surprised, and if they pull this off, they will have a great story to tell. Four consecutive sessions of high tension, tactically charged combat is not our regular fare. But when it happens I don’t try to curb or curtail it, I let them run with it, just like I would let them spend as much time shopping or doing any other activity that engaged or delighted them. I’ll throw in some other loot in the chest with the axe (randomly generated of course) if they succeed

Next week is going to be lit!

Game Mechanics and Tactical Skill Development

One of the joys of making Bhakashal while running regular games is that I get to playtest everything over extended periods of time. It can take some time for the impact of a game mechanic to be felt at the table, particularly any mechanic that is based on dice rolls, as the inherent variability of randomized rolls can “mask” impacts for periods of time.

One of the big components of Bhakashal’s shaking up of AD&D combat came from my reading of Talislanta. Talislanta has a generic critical mechanic, e.g., you can declare a critical effect, and if you roll a critical hit that effect is realized. It is meant to be a negotiation between the player and the referee, the player comes up with a critical effect that is reasonable given past instances, and the referee collaborates to ensure it is so. 

Then you roll.

Thing is, sometimes players need prompts, if left to their own devices, “do whatever you want”, they will default to past patterns. When looking into this, I found systems that used combat criticals, systems that used weapon criticals, and systems that used free form criticals, but I had not found a system that used all three. So I decided to come up with a list of standard critical hit effects, a list of weapon specific critical impacts, AND to allow free form criticals as well. 

I have been using this system for more than 2 years with 7 different groups, and I thought it would be interesting to describe how it has landed. 

Here is the combat criticals table:

Combat Effects Table

1. Weapon Jammed/Stuck - one action to remove/fix, +2 to hit them while doing so

2. Numbing Blow - motive limb -3” to move, fighting limb, -2 to hit, 2-4 rounds

3. Disarmed - weapon knocked out of melee range, 1 action to retrieve

5. Snatch Weapon - mercenaries & spiders get a bonus attack with the weapon

6. Snatch Object - object from opponent removed (purse, potion bottle, etc.)

7. Knock Down - opponent -2 to hit, 2-point AC, 1 action to get back on feet     

8. Dodge on Lunge - additional attack at opponent’s back as they pass, +2 to hit

9. Knock Back - attacker may break off with no attack of opportunity against them        

10. Knock Back into Surface / Object - 2-4 hp additional damage

11. Blow Exposes Weak Spot - Next attack against them ignores armor

12. Temporarily Blind - next two attacks randomized btw all in melee range or -4 to hit

13. Temporarily Wind - next two attacks do half damage if successful               

14. Disorient - opponent loses next attack            

15. Stunned - Opponent AC 10 for next attack

16. Knock into a Combatant - both have 4-point initiative penalty on next attack

17. Extra Unarmed Attack - Opponent set up for free punch/kick/head butt attack

18. Set-Up Ally - next attack against opponent from an ally is +4 to hit                        

19. Extra Attack - attacker gets one extra attack                                      

20. Extra Damage - double base damage

Natural 1 - Weapon Damaged: - 1 to hit until repaired

Natural 20 - Armor Damaged/Target Damaged: 1 point of AC penalty until repaired/healed

Mercenaries also get a save versus breath weapon against any combat effect critical on them. 

1. When the table says, “next attack”, if the opponent who suffers the impact of the critical lost initiative and has not yet acted for that round, their action for that round is lost. If they have already acted that round (e.g. they won initiative), then their action for the next combat round is lost.

2. If a PC wants to propose a combat maneuver that is not on this list, treat it like a critical and calibrate its effects to be similar to what is already on the table. If it is popular, add it to the table as an option. 

And here is a sample of weapon criticals

Axe, Battle - Criticals: Cleave/Remain

Cleave - Weapon does full dice damage

Remain – Weapon stays imbedded in opponent, does minimum dice damage each round until removed

Initial Introduction

When the table, weapons criticals and the generic critical rule were introduced, the first reaction was generally positive, the first few times they got one they were very excited. Almost universally, they chose double damage as their impact. The base die is doubled, not the total with bonuses, which disappointed a few of them, but generally they felt that more damage was better. Double damage on 20 was a very common house rule BITD, and some of the players had even heard of it, so it was the natural choice.

The problem, of course, is that doubling base damage is good, but it is most often not enough to take down the foe, so they get to be around for a while longer doing damage before you can put them down. And of course you can also roll very low damage, which, even when doubled, is underwhelming.

Soon they shifted their tactics to extra attack as the default. They liked this as it had the potential to start up a “critical chain”, and that indeed happened several times against high AC foes that were easier to hit. This captured their imagination for a bit, but what they found was that on occasion they missed the second hit, so the critical was “wasted”, it was a drag to roll a critical but then get no impact. What they were really learning was that certain criticals required an additional roll, others did not, and depending on the situation, one may be preferable to another. This is an important distinction in the game, it is, for example, the difference between Magic Missile and Fireball, Fireball does more damage but the saving throw means that the damage can be halved. Magic Missile, however, ALWAYS hits, and has no save, e.g. does not require an additional roll.

This was the status quo for a time, but there were some indications of change. For one, as the referee I used criticals too, but I rolled randomly for them rather than picking. So the PCs began to see the utility of criticals other than damage reduction or extra hits through the actions of the NPCs and monsters. 

Then one session the party tank rolled a critical and couldn’t decide between extra attack and double damage. So he looked at the rest of the chart and landed on:

16. Knock Into a Combatant - both have 4 point initiative penalty on next attack 

During that fight there were two primary opponents and a bunch of “mooks”, the tank realized in that moment that a critical effect that impacted both of the two primary opponents was worth more than double damage on one of them or an extra attack that might not even land. 

After that, the floodgates opened. Now players started to comb through the list and look for critical effects that fit the combat environment at the time. Over the next few months finding creative ways to use the listed critical effects became the standard approach at the table. Players combed the environment to find aspects that fed into a critical on the table. 

They started to notice different KINDS of criticals. 

1. Criticals that impacted specific parts of their opponent’s bodies (blinding, numbing arms)

2. Criticals that impacted more than one opponent 

3. Criticals that had lasting effects as opposed to instant effects

4. Criticals that had multiple effects

5. Criticals that neutralized or reduced armor defense

6. Criticals that neutralized or reduced attacks

7. Criticals that aided your allies, not you

This led to players asking questions about the combat environment, this was something I had wanted them to do for ages, but the system incentivized them to do it, and it became the norm. This was one of the unexpected consequences of the critical system, it led the players to ask more questions about the environment in order to maximize the benefits of the critical system. This in turn gave them more information, and all other things being equal, made them better at combat. 

The system was starting to create knock-on effects.

They became interested in weapon specific criticals. Weapon specific criticals are different from combat criticals in that you have a limited number for each weapon, once the party started to embrace combat criticals they also started to be more thoughtful about which weapons they picked. 

So for another month or so players brainstormed the benefits of combat criticals and integrated weapons criticals in their gaming. Combat had become energized as the players took an active role in tactical planning. There were a few players who didn’t know what to do with the criticals table, perhaps the choice was overwhelming. Fortunately, the players who had the most trouble picking a critical impact learned to just roll on the table. One of the benefits of Bhakashal is that it randomizes almost everything in the game, so if players are indecisive, they can just roll.

Then, the final big shift happened, one of the players decided to ask for a custom critical. In this case the party was up against a warlock and a group of bandits. One of the party, a Slayer (Bhakashal ranger/assassin) was meleeing with the bandits and saw one of them lighting a molotov cocktail to throw at the party seer (priest).

The Slayer asked if she could strike the bandit on the hand, knocking the burning cocktail through the air and into the nearby warlock from the bandit group. The bandit was close enough, and we discussed it and decided as a group that this was a reasonable critical effect. 

Note that the way I run this is that the whole table must agree that a proposed critical is fair and reasonable given the comparable criticals on the predetermined list. This keeps the system from being abused, the players all know that if they approve a critical that is ‘unfair’ the monsters/NPCs will also have access to it, so initial enthusiasms are often curtailed. They also have to convince me, and I’m fairly good at assessing comparative advantages.

So the slayer tried for the critical, rolled one, and managed to knock the fiery bottle out of the bandit’s hand and on to the nearby warlock, who failed his save and was set on fire!

Well, after that happened, things changed significantly. Now players were both actively looking for environmental conditions that favored one combat critical over another, or one weapon critical over another, and also dreaming up new free form criticals to try. And the more they played with the system, the better they got at picking impacts that took advantage of the combat environment, picking weapons for their critical effects, and coming up with criticals for the game. 

Over the course of a few months (we play once a week), so about 12 sessions, the introduction of a critical system led to:

1. Increased player engagement

2. More questioning of the environment

3. Experimentation

4. Combat coordination and cooperation

5. Improved tactical skills

In short, the players had become more skilled at combat in the game because the system incentivized their engagement. Once they saw how criticals could impact combat through more than just damage, they became invested and began to experiment. This is fantastic as anything that increases engagement is good, and the players were definitely more engaged. Martial characters also gained a bit more prestige. Yes, they lacked spells, but they were the most likely to land a critical hit, and thus their contribution to combat became more pronounced.

It also expanded combat from “you hit, you do X damage” into something far more dynamic, tactically charged and exciting. Finding a good critical impact was lauded and celebrated, coming up with a new one and negotiating it with the referee and the party became a badge of honor in the group. And of course the use of criticals on the players also made things exciting, they knew what could be done TO them just as it was done BY them.

Criticals are only one aspect of Bhakashal combat, but they bring a lot to the table, and have led my groups to become more skilled and tactically minded.

Win-Win!

 

Building Bhakashal - Example of Play

I thought I would take a combat sample and do a “split screen” discussing the game mechanics (when they kick in) as I go. I saw this done in a “how to” D&D gaming book and thought it was helpful to unpack the mechanics. Please chime in (on Twitter) if you have thoughts on how well the presentation works to convey the game mechanics as I’m considering presenting it this way in the game.

The PC in this case is a 5th level fighter (in Bhakashal a “mercenary”), stats below.

“Jokai the Mighty” was tasked with rescuing a kidnapped warrior from House Tairn. In Bhakashal kidnappings are used to dishonor opponents at other Houses. Victims are never harmed, harming a bound/restrained victim is the height of dishonor in a martial culture like Bhakashal, but it is an effective way to produce a ransom and strike back at your opponents by showing that they are vulnerable to you.

Jokai located the building where the victim was being held, and entered through the roof. After going down the stairs he emerged into a room lit by several torches, and in the middle of the room was an owlbear, beyond it a door to the room where he believed the captive to be, and on the side of the room stairs going down. The monster hasn’t seen him yet, so he waits until it is looking away and enters the room, hoping to gain surprise on the beast. He takes out his battle axe and approaches.

This is where we pick up. 

Jokai the Mighty - 5th level Saan - Mercenary - Mercenary Guard -  Infantry Commander - House Tairn [LG] MV:12/16” - AC: 4 (Hoplite armor) - HP: 21/11 [4/7/3/2/5]

Ability Scores S - 16 [+3]  I - 11 [+1] W - 6 [-1] D - 12 [+1] C - 11[+1]  C - 9

Deity -  Kurlog Languages - Saan, Togmu, Ogre Magi Appearance - Dark green with light green mottling, back fin Skills/Abilities - Surprised 1 in 6/ Surprise 3 in 6 in forest/marshland, amphibious, infravision (120’), Carpenter [+1], Animal Handler, Martial Arts (Grappling bonus: +18)

Saving Throws Paralyzation [+9] Poison [+7] Death Magic [+5] Petrification [+6] Polymorph [+4] Breath Weapon [+7] Spell [+5]

Weapons - Class Attack Bonus: +3 3 natural attacks/round (CCB) [+6/+3], 1-2/1-2/1-6, WS:1, WvrsAC: -2M/+1L/+3N, Criticals: Cleave/Stab Mace [+8/+5], 2-7/1-6, WS: 4, WvrsAC: +2M/+3L/+4N, Criticals: Bludgeon Battle Axe [+6/+3], 1-8/1-8, WS: 4, WvrsAC: -2M/+1L/+2N, Criticals: Cleave   Crossbow [+6/+2], 2-5/2-5, WS: 4, ROF:1, Range: 6/12/18, WvrsAC: -1M/+2L/+3N, Criticals: Remain

Equipment:  Backpack, 50’ rope, (3) iron spikes, flint and steel, (3) torches, waterskin, iron rations, blanket Encumbrance: +75 gp

Wealth: 50gp, 100sp, 300gp ruby, 250 gp ring Clothing: Leather kilt, black cape  Personality: Curious, easygoing, abrasive

Magic Items Mace of Impact (+1) - Critical: target knocked back 1’ per point of damage, knocked prone (4) +1 crossbow bolts Potion of Speed Potion of Fire Resistance

Owlbear - MV: 12, AC: 5, HD: 5, NA: 3, DA: 1-6/1-6/2-12, WvrsAC: -2M/+1L/+3N, Critical: Cleave/Stab, SA: HUG, SD: none, INT: low , Size: L(8’)  

Kutya Guards - MV: 12, AC: 8, HD: 0, NA:1, DA: 1-8, WvrsAC: -1M/+1L/+3N, Criticals: Remain/Stab

Combat Effects Table

1. Weapon Jammed/Stuck - one action to remove/fix, +2 to hit them while doing so

2. Numbing Blow - motive limb -3” to move, fighting limb, -2 to hit, 2-4 rounds

3. Disarmed - weapon knocked out of melee range, 1 action to retrieve

5. Snatch Weapon - mercenaries & spiders get a bonus attack with the weapon

6. Snatch Object  - object from opponent removed (purse, potion bottle, etc.)

7. Knock Down - opponent -2 to hit, 2 point AC, 1 action to get back on feet     

8. Dodge on Lunge - attack of opportunity at opponent’s back as they pass, +2 to hit

9. Knock Back - attacker may break off with no attack of opportunity against them        

10. Knock Back Into Surface / Object - 2-4 hp additional damage

11. Blow Exposes Weak Spot - Next attack against them ignores armor

12. Temporarily Blind - next two attacks are randomized btw all in melee range or -4 to hit

13. Temporarily Wind - next two attacks do half damage if successful               

14. Disorient - opponent loses next attack            

15. Stunned - Opponent AC 10 for  next attack

16. Knock Into a Combatant - both have 4 point initiative penalty on next attack

17. Extra Unarmed Attack - Opponent set up for free punch/kick/head butt attack            

18. Set-Up Ally - next attack against opponent from an ally is +4 to hit                        

19. Extra Attack - attacker gets one extra attack                                      

20. Extra Damage - double base damage

Example of Play

Jokai drew his battle axe and held it tightly, an owlbear is a fierce opponent, and his best bet was achieving surprise on the beast, dealing decisive damage before it could react.  Jokai waited until the creature was bent over and rummaging through its food (its captors had left several freshly slain animals on the floor for it to eat) to start his approach. Jokai drew back his axe to his right side, holding it in two hands, planning a cleaving strike to the beast’s side. He closed to striking distance and the beast turned suddenly. Jokai wasn’t sure if his steps or his spoor had alerted it, but it was facing him full on in a heartbeat.  The owlbear uttered a strange, garbled cry. Jokai circled the beast, it shook its head, pulled back its arms and lunged towards him.  x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x “As the owlbear lunges you meet it at full force, at the last second you dodge to the right and slash to the left and up, slicing the beast on the side of it’s head. Blood sprays it’s fur, and the creature staggers, shaking its head and swaying.” x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x “It returns Jokai’s attack with fervor, the first blow misses over his head, but the second tags the warrior on his right shoulder, and a bite then crushes his shoulder piece to the point of pain before Jokai can twist free. Jokai takes several steps to the side, gains his feet and spins around.” x x x x x x x x x x x x X x x “You pull back your axe and hurl it through the air, it turns over as it flies and strikes the beast in the chest, eliciting a roar of pain, and it claws the axe loose. You can tell it is badly wounded as it staggers and rights itself, blood flowing freely from its wounds”  x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x “Jokai grabs his mace and prepares for the next attack. The beast is enraged, it pulls back its arms all the way and lunges forward in a desperate charge. Jokai sees an opening; the beast is weary, and he plans to strike before the beast brings its arms forward. He stands his ground, waiting until the owlbear is close, then he takes three steps into a ground to sky blow that catches the creature in its neck, and snaps back its head with a sickening crack. The mace’s magical power is evident as the blow propels the owlbear through the air and back 11’ from Jokai, where it crashes to the ground, limp. As this happens, three Kutya guards appear from the stairs below, longswords in hand. They see the owlbear’s body and shout, charging all at once. “ x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x “The three warriors crossed the room in seconds, the first swings wildly and you easily step aside, leaving you open as the second tags you on the left arm, a spray of blood arcing across the room. The third stabs you in the chest, your armor takes the worst of it but the blade manages to catch a join and you feel the burn of the sharp metal in your flesh as it passes by” x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x “Jokai’s arm aches and his side is bleeding; he needs to finish this fast. He pulls back his mace and swings with mighty force, the first strike hits one of the Kutya in the chest and crushes his ribs, the warrior collapsing instantly, the other two panic and Jokai takes advantage, pulling back from the first hit and swinging around to strike the second warrior in the back as he tries to slip by, a sickening ‘crack’ marking his spine snapping as he collapses like a felled oak. Finally, as the last Kutya pulls back his longsword, hoping to run Jokai through, he brings his mace up then down in a sky to ground blow that lands on the Kutya’s head, splitting it open like a ripe melon. The warrior falls to the ground, dead.”

x x x x x *For PCs other than Spiders (thieves), to surprise a target the target must roll a d6, if they roll a 1 or 2 they are surprised. A d6 is rolled and it comes up a 4, so the owlbear is not surprised. x x x x x x x x x *Roll for initiative! Opponents are at close range and using melee weapons / natural attacks so it is a straight initiative roll. Jokai rolls a 2, plus 3 for his battle axe, giving him a total of 5. The owlbear rolls a 4, plus 1 for a natural attack, giving it 5 as well Simultaneous initiative! Jokai is using a battle axe, his bonuses are: Weapon: +6 Situational: none  WvrsAC: +2 (the owlbear has no armor or natural armor) Armor Class: +5 Total Modifiers: +13 Jokai rolls a 15 +13 = 28, a critical!  Attack Table (d20) 1-14 - miss 15-19 - hit for ½ damage 20-24- hit 25+ critical hit He can choose weapon critical or a combat critical, the weapon critical for a battle axe is cleave, which means that his attack does full dice damage. The player decides that it would be better to go for a combat effect, as the extra damage from the cleave will likely not be enough to kill the creature. Instead he opts for “Disorient - opponent loses next attack”.  Damage from the attack is 1-8 + 3, Jokai rolls a 5 +3 = 8hp damage. In Bhakashal when a creature is wounded the first time you roll the HP on the spot and in the open so the player can see the HP the creature has remaining after the hit. This is meant to model the idea that the hero can tell how badly they have wounded an opponent after they “blood” them with the first hit. The owlbear has 5+2 HD, this is rolled, and the result is 22hp, with 8 hp of damage it is reduced to 14 hp, still above half, so no negative modifiers… yet.  The owlbear loses its “next” attack, since the PC struck first, the owlbear loses its responding attack in the first round, and the first round is over. Round 2 starts. Jokai rolls a 6 + 3 = 9, the owlbear rolls a 6 +1 =7, owlbear strikes first It gets three attacks per round, and in Bhakashal ALL OF THESE ATTACKS happen at the same time, reflecting the ferocity of the beast.  Owlbear Weapon: +5 Situational: none  WvrsAC: -2 (Jokai has metal armor) Armor Class: +4 Total: +7 The owlbear rolls a 5, a 10 and a 12, which become a 12, a 17 and a 19, that makes for: Attack Table (d20) 1-14 - miss 15-19 - hit for ½ damage 20-24- hit 25+ critical hit … a miss and two half damage hits. The first hit rolls a 4 halved to 2, the second hit rolls a 10 halved to 5, that’s a total of 7 hp damage. The hit on Jokai does 7hp damage, lowering his HP to 14 as well. This is also still above half, so neither opponent takes penalties as of this point.  Jokai is up next, he is using his battle axe, and decides to hurl it rather than meleeing.  Battle Axe  Weapon: +6 Situational: none  WvrsAC: +2 (the owlbear has no armor or natural armor) Armor Class: +5 Total Modifiers: +13 Jokai rolls an 8, +13 for 21, that’s full damage but no critical. He rolls a 4 + 3 for 7 hp damage. The owlbear is now down to 7 hp, this is the first attack that lowers the beast below half, so the referee turns over a Jack and the owlbear is now at -1 on all rolls until healed. Jokai’s player now knows that the beast has only 7 hp left.  It is now a new round, the beast is below half HP, there is no morale roll here as it is an imprisoned and enchanted creature, so it will attack until death. It charges Jokai. Jokai will switch to his mace as he has thrown his axe. Normally you assign a 1 point initiative penalty to switch weapons, but as the longest weapon strikes first on charge, and Jokai is using a weapon versus claws, he strikes first so the penalty doesn’t matter.  Mace Weapon: +8 Situational: +2 (beast is charging so their AC takes a 2-point penalty, giving the attacker +2 to hit) WvrsAC: +2 (the owlbear has no armor or natural armor) Armor Class: +5 Total Modifiers: +17 Jokai rolls a 10 +17 for a critical! He decides to go for double damage as he believes he can finish the creature off before it can attack again. Damage from his mace is 1-6 +5, so in this case he rolls a 3, doubled for 6, and add 5 for a total of 11 hp of damage. His magical mace makes the creature fly back 11’. The owlbear has 7 hp remaining, so it is slain! The referee rolls to see if all of this commotion has produced any attention, and three Kutya (dog folk) guards run up the stairs. They charge Jakai in a rage. Their swords are longer than his mace, so they strike first on charge. Longswords Weapon: +1 (Kutya are 0-level but they are “large” so I assume a +1 STR bonus for each) Situational: +2 (charging gives them +2 to hit) WvrsAC: Jokai wears metal Hoplite armor, which gives a -1 to hit penalty for a longsword Armor Class: +4 (Jokai’s armor class is added directly to the roll). Total Modifiers: +6 Attack Table (d20) 1-14 - miss 15-19 - hit for ½ damage 20-24- hit 25+ critical hit The warriors roll a 2, 11 and 16 respectively, this means an 8, 17 and a 22, which are a miss, a half damage hit and a full damage hit, no criticals. The first Kutya rolls a 6 +1 (for STR) 7 points of damage, halved to 3, and the second rolls a 3 +1 for 4 points of damage, for a total of 7 hp damage, Jokai is now down to 5 hp. The first hit takes him from 12 hp to 9, and he is now below half his total hp. As this is the first hit that brings him below half HP the referee flips over a Jack and he now takes -1 on all rolls. The second attack hits and now he has taken the second hit when he is below half hp, so the referee flips over a Queen and Jokai is now -2 on all rolls. Since the hits are getting serious, the referee decides to roll for location: Body Location -  1 - Right Leg  2 - Left Leg  3 - Right arm -  4 - Left arm -  5- Chest - 6 - Stomach –  7- Upper Back -  8 - Lower Back -  9 - Neck -  10 - Head -  The referee rolls a 4 and a 5 for hit location, meaning the first attack hits the left arm and the next the chest. Now it is time for the responding attack from Jokai, there is no initiative as this is the response to a charge, he rolls at a -2 penalty as a Queen is showing, this reflects his exhaustion due to hp loss.  Jokai uses his mace,  Mace Weapon: +8 Situational: +2 (opponents are charging so their AC takes a 2 point penalty, giving the attacker +2 to hit) and -2 (Queen overturned) WvrsAC: +3 (the Kutya have leather armor) Armor Class: +5 Total Modifiers: +16 Jokai rolls a 12 + 16 for a total of 28, a critical hit! Jokai chooses to attack again.  He rolls damage for the first attack, 2-7 from the mace, he rolls a 4, +5 gives him 9, -2 for the overturned Queen makes 7, 0-level warriors have a max of 6 HP, so Jokai slays his opponent. For his extra attack he rolls an 9, for a total of 25, another critical! He chooses to attack again. This time he rolls 5 hp damage, +5 for 10, -2 for 8, and another Kutya goes down. Finally, he rolls a 2 + 16 = 20, a regular damage hit, he rolls 7 damage, +5 for 12, -2 for the Queen, for a total of 10hp, enough to slay the warrior.

Notes

This combat lasted 4 rounds, four minutes. Jokai survived a fight with an owlbear and three bandits, but only has 5 hp left and takes a -2 penalty on all attacks until healed above 1/2 HP. He has no healing magic available and does not know if there are any further guards present. So, he should proceed with caution! 

Smart players will recognize the tactical advantages in the mechanics, for example, on charge, the longest weapon strikes first, so any time a monster with natural attacks charges weapon wielders get to strike first. Situationals matter, charging bonuses, WvrsAC mods, positional advantages, surprise, these things are key to successful attacks and ultimately to survival. 

You add AC raw to the “to hit” roll, WvrsAC mods, situationals, level based “to hit” bonuses, STR and magic bonuses, these all add up. Thus, by mid-level criticals become more likely for everyone, but particularly for the martial classes, and this allows them to do some fancy stuff. Multiple attacks, extra damage, blinding, tripping, knocking back, etc. Smart players realize unless you can “one shot” a monster on the first hit, taking “extra damage” every time is not a smart decision, a situational advantage of some kind is far more helpful than extra raw damage.