FORUM

In issue #139's "Forum," S. D. Anderson wrote
about a hypothetical battle in which a single 8thlevel
PC fighter equipped with bracers of defense
(AC 2), gauntlets of ogre power, a ring of
protection + 3, a horseman?s flail + 3, 75 hp,
and a dexterity of 17 defeated 40 5th-level NPC
fighters in chain mail and armed with scimitars
Each NPC had 32 hp, they attacked two at a
time, and whenever one dropped, another took
his place. Eriana the PC was not allowed multiple
attacks or weapon specialization.

The NPCs are idiots to attack Eriana two at a
time. The whole situation seems rigged in her
favor. She may have no specialization bonus but
neither do her enemies, and all attacks are
made against her front, where she can use her
dexterity bonus. In a realistic campaign, the
monsters aren?t going to be so kind to her.

According to page 69 of the Dungeon Masters
Guide (under the heading "Number Of Opponents
Per Figure"), a single man-size figure can
be attacked by six man-size opponents at once.
Three will attack her from the front, two from
the flanks, and one from the rear. Eriana?s -4
armor class takes a nose dive under these
conditions, to AC -1 from the flanks and AC 1
from behind. Eriana will now have to kill 35
NPCs just to keep them from completely surrounding
her.

Under completely average conditions, 12.5 hp
damage per hit with a 95% chance of hitting
will take her 94 rounds to kill all NPCs. The
NPCs? scimitars average 4.5 hp damage per hit.
The NPCs in front of her have a 5% chance of
hitting, the ones at her flanks have a 20%
chance, and the one behind her a 30% chance.
Those helpless, faceless NPCs, now doing an
average of 3.825 hp damage per round, will cut
her to ribbons in 20 rounds. Now it is Eriana
who finishes over an hour late. We can nudge
the odds back in Eriana?s favor by giving back
her multiple attacks per round and by giving
her double specialization with the horseman?s
flail, but even with two automatic hits each
round and + 12 hp damage (average 31 hp per
round), she still needs 36 rounds to kill only 35
of her 40 opponents. Her effort is heroic, however,
since she takes 19 of her 5th-level opponents
to the grave with her.

The point is that PCs can be killed when
outnumbered by lower-level opponents attacking
intelligently, so giving them poison, five
extra levels, or totally arbitrary to-hit bonuses is
quite unnecessary. In fact, the PCs will have to
use their heads or powerful magic to defeat
such large groups. In the above example, Eriana
will win this bout if she can put her back to a
corner, but she will still take 24 hp damage.

The above is still a contrived example. Fighters
of 5th-level are rare, or at least they should
be. Suppose Eriana, armed as above, is fighting
a small army of orcs armed with broad swords
(averaging 5 hp damage on a hit). She can automatically
kill two orcs per round. The three
orcs in front of her inflict an average of
(.05 x 5 x 3) = .75 hp damage each round. The
two at her flanks deliver (.05 x 5 x 2) = .50 hp
damage per round. The one behind her inflicts
(0.15 x 5 x 1) = .75 hp damage per round. That?s
a total of 2 hp damage inflicted on Eriana per
round. It will take the orcs 38 rounds to kill her
at that rate. Before she dies, Eriana will kill 76
orcs. Impressive, but I wouldn?t single-handedly
take on the orcish invasion force if I were her.

Ted Collins
Johnson City TN
(Dragon #150)
 

This letter is a response to S. D. Anderson?s
letter on Eriana in DRAGON issue #139. In my
campaign, I have introduced a combat modifier
to deal with situations such as the one that he
describes. Whenever a character (PC or NPC) is
outnumbered by opponents engaged in hand-tohand
combat with him, the following adjustments
are made:

1. The outnumbered character suffers a -1
penalty to his armor class for every extra opponent
that he is fighting; and

2. The opponents gain + 1 bonuses to their
armor classes equal to the above penalty.

Thus a character outnumbered 3 to 1 would
suffer a -2 penalty to his armor class, while his
opponents would gain + 2 bonuses to their
armor classes.

The logic behind this modifier is that a character
cannot concentrate upon multiple opponents
as well as he can upon a single opponent; dodging
one attack may inadvertantly leave him
more exposed to another attack. Due to this
factor, a character must concentrate more upon
defense than on attack, so his opponents? armor
classes improve.

Using this modifier in the combat between
Eriana and the NPCs produces some interesting
results. Eriana is outnumbered two to one (since
only two of the NPCs are attacking her at any
one time). Her armor class becomes -3, while
that of the NPCs becomes 4. She now hits them
only 90% of the time and so requires 134
rounds to finish them all. The NPCs now hit her
10% of the time and can kill her in 85 rounds.
Even factoring in Eriana?s three attacks every
two rounds still requires 89 rounds for her to
win. Close, but the NPCs would still be favored.

As far as specialization is concerned, remember
that it is a two-way street; the NPCs could
also be specialized. Assuming that Eriana is
double-specialized with her flail, she is gaining
two attacks per round as well as + 3 to hit and
damage. She can now kill an NPC every round
(approximately) and thereby needs 40 rounds to
finish them all. Give the NPCs single specialization
with their scimitars. They now have three
attacks every two rounds and gain + 1 to hit
and +2 on damage. Using these numbers (and
the outnumbering modifier), they would kill her
in about 27 rounds. Not even close.

In either of these cases, if the NPCs can surround
her with more than two opponents (up to
six man-size attackers can attack a single mansize
figure), it would be over more quickly.
There are other tactics available to the NPCs,
especially using the weaponless and nonlethal
combat systems as described in Unearthed
Arcana. If the NPCs try to grapple Eriana, they
gain a + 2 to hit until she can break the hold. If
they try to overbear her, they gain a + 1 bonus
to hit; should they succeed, she will be on the
ground with a -2 to hit and a + 4 to be hit (she
should also lose her dexterity bonus). The NPCs
could use this opportunity to bring more of
their companions into the battle with the attendant
outnumbering results. Finally, they
could attempt to disarm her with their normal
chances to hit. Any hit by an NPC would require
Eriana to roll an 8 or better (her save vs. petrification
or lose her grip on her weapon. Without
a weapon, she would not last long.

One further factor to remember is fatigue.
While Eriana?s opponents are replaced by fresh
men as the fight goes on, she does not get any
rest. In the original example in issue #139, she
fights for over two hours without any breaks.
According to the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide
(page 21), she would have to roll against her
constitution after the first hour and again after
50 minutes if she makes this first check. If she
fails either check, she becomes fatigued and
loses two points on every stat and suffers a
further - 2 penalty on all to-hit and damage
rolls and saving throws. Furthermore, if she
continues to fight while fatigued, she must roll
against her revised constitution every 10 minutes
to avoid exhaustion and subsequent doubling
of these penalties.

Ultimately, the fact remains that fighters
(indeed higher-level characters in general) can
defeat an incredible number of opponents with
virtually no chance of losing. The very fact that
we can calculate the probable outcome of a
combat ensures that this is the case. The problem
is that there really isn?t any random factor.
The to-hit and damage rolls are random, but
they do not allow for the possibility that an
inferior opponent will get lucky and deal out a
telling blow. As it stands, an orc would have to
roll 20s every time in order to defeat even a
mid-level opponent with a decent selection of
magical items (and that opponent would have to
roll 1s). Such luck is not even worth considering.
This detracts from the game, for after a
while you wonder why bother running a combat
when the outcome is so one-sided.

The problem seems to stem from the huge
number of hit points the average character has
and from the fact that, in the AD&D® game, a
character is either functioning fine with no
problems (as long as he has at least 1 hp) or he
is dead (or unconscious for more generous
DMs). There is no point between these two
poles. While this does allow for a simple, fast
combat system, it does lead inexorably to the
problems described by S. D. Anderson. While it
is possible to make a few alterations to the
system, ultimately, it needs an overhaul.

Stephen Jorgensen
Truro, Nova Scotia
(Dragon #150)

I am writing in response to S. D. Anderson's
letter in issue #139. First of all, let's look at how
this situation would really turn out.

Eriana of Belargn, a powerful but not-so-wise
adventurer, passes the castle of the evil Lord
Badguy. A patrol of Lord Badguy?s elite henchmen
(40 in all) sees her. Eriana uses her wisdom
of 4 and decides to attack the henchmen. There
would be no rules for this bout. In the AD&D
game, combat happens in the dungeon or wilderness,
not in a ring. To recreate this fight
properly, we must consider several things.

First, let?s give back Eriana's 3/2 attack rate.
We?ll use the rules from the 1st Edition Players
Handbook and the 1st Edition DMG, so forget
about weapon specialization for now.

Second, consider the experience of the faceless
NPCs; this is where things really start to go
wrong. Do you think these people got the
18,000 + xp of 5th-level fighters by guarding a
castle? Come on! My bet is that many of these
fighters were retainers or former adventurers.
If Eriana is of 8th level and has bracers of
defense (AC 2), gauntlets of ogre power, a ring
of protection + 3, and a horseman?s flail + 3,
you might think that someone only three levels
lower might have at least one magical item.

Also, who says that these fighters have no tohit
or damage bonuses? These people are 5thlevel
fighters, not peasants! I bet that many of
them have strengths that produce to-hit or
damage bonuses.

And finally, who says the NPCs can only face
Eriana two at a time? If Eriana is in a dungeon
or the wilderness, 40 NPCs could swamp her.
They can attack from the front, sides, and rear.
Assuming 10 NPCs could get at her at once,
that?s 10 attacks per round. Compared to
Eriana?s previous 3/2 attack rate, I would now
say she is in trouble.

Now we?ll run this combat again, using most
of the calculations used by S. D. Anderson.
Eriana needs 127 swings to kill all the NPCs.
With her 3/2 attack, rate it will still take her 84
rounds to kill all of our faceless NPCs. One NPC
needs 340 swings to get the 17 hits he will need
to kill Eriana. But now with 10 NPCs facing her
at once, they need only 34 rounds to take her
down!

Low and behold! Before Eriana can kill half of
our NPC friends, she is dead! And this is without
giving some of the NPCs magic items, strength
bonuses, bonuses from attacking from behind,
etc., etc. Not even giving Eriana weapon specialization
can save her this time.

What?s the moral of this story, Eriana? The
next time you foolishly attack 40 NPCs, bring
along the rest of your party. Then maybe it will
be a fair fight.

Tom Foottit
Kanata, Ontario
(Dragon #150)
 

In my original letter about Eriana and the 40
NPCs, I noted that if they could rush her, the
fight would quickly end. Ted Collins and Tom
Foottit in issue #150 went to great lengths to
demonstrate that assessment was correct. Yes, if
they all attacked at once she'd die, and if the last
one in had an Atchisson assault rifle, the first 39
would go with her.

What the scenario was supposed to do was to
point out how several minor magical items used
in conjunction made a character who was not
that much better than any of the NPCs described
(three extra levels, one stat high enough
to give a bonus, and better than twice the hit
points) virtually invincible.

In fact, the scenario was based on a game I
DMed in which a halfling fighter PC was slaughtering
7th-level guards right and left. The module
was RS1 The Unconquered, so the situation
was not that contrived.

The fact is that in a party melee situation
against a horde of NPC warriors, the typical
melee combat character continuously faces two
or three NPCs at a time. If the party is not being
overwhelmed, the PC in trouble gets help from
another member who isn?t in trouble.

Describing a party vs. horde scenario would
have taken much more space and had greater
complications. A way to keep the PC fighting the
proper number of foes had to be developed.
The arena/boxing ring fit the bill perfectly.

For the sake of Mr. Foottit, there are a number
of places where in ?real life? 40 NPCs might
have to fight no more than two at a time: on a
bridge, a narrow corridor in a dungeon, at a
small breach in a castle wall, or in an equally
narrow pass.

Mr. Foottit would lose his bet about the NPCs
having magical items. PCs are a special case,
defined as being the most aggressive characters
around and thus hired to do the dirty jobs. An
NPC fighter who reached 9th level largely by
fighting humans might well prefer not to deal
with mystical monsters; thus he hires the PCs.
High-risk jobs generally require incentives to get
people to undertake them. The soldier who
fights in wars and defends castles will acquire
experience points but not the sorts of treasures
adventurers do.

The most honestly played and DMed characters
will end up with far more money and magic
at any level than the tables for equipping highlevel
characters will grant. It?s not that unusual
to find so large a difference between the items
Eriana had and the items the NPCs lacked.

Mr. Foottit asks, ?Who says that these fighters
have no to-hit or damage bonuses?? and ?Who
says that the NPCs can only face Eriana two at a
time?? Well, I say. I designed the scenario, and
one of the perks of that job is that I get to say
what this or that character has or lacks. For the
record, the 40 NPCs have?excuse me, had?no
statistic bonuses or magical items, and had to
attack her two at a time.

Now, unfortunately, I have to deal with
Stephen Jorgensen?s letter, and it?s hard to argue
with a man who is essentially correct. I?d probably
start the penalties he suggests with the third
foe, not the second, keeping in mind the philosophy
found in the ?cinematic combat? option
found in Steve Jackson Games? GURPS® rules.

He?s quite correct about what would occur if
all the NPCs were specialized or better with
their weapons, something I didn?t think of until
a day or so after I mailed my letter.

The only other point is a double quibble: The
fatigue rules from the Dungeoneer's Survival
Guide are optional, but any stat losses are not
going to affect her to-hit and damage scores, as
they have no effect on the gauntlets of ogre
power she wears. As long as she wears them,
her strength is 18/00. However, her dexterity
would drop if she failed the constitution checks,
making her easier to be hit.

Jorgensen?s comments on the inherent problems
of having ?normal? characters who can
absorb more damage than a storm giant are to
the point. One suggestion here is to define luck/
skill hit points by level or hit die. A character
loses luck/skill hit points first, up to his level of
damage per blow. Using Eriana as an example,
she could take up to 8 hp per blow as luck or
skill damage and any additional damage as
?body? damage. Body hit points would be defined
as the characters 1st-level hp. Thus, one
good blow could incapacitate Eriana (remaining
luck points keep her alive until or unless she is
healed or slain while helpless) though this is
beyond the 1-8 range the NPCs could have done.

Lastly, I?d like to comment on Bill McCullough
?s letter in issue #150. I?ve dealt with
power gamers coming into my campaign a few
times. Unless one of these guys is supplying the
place where you game and you must have him
in the game to play at all, let those who can?t
play by your style play elsewhere. After a few
weeks, they will either slip back, playing characters
you can handle, or form a rival powergamer
campaign. Unless all the local players are
god-character junkies, you will end up with a
campaign that has a core of solid, dependable
players. From that, you can build up a sizable
game as the months pass.

I can virtually promise you if you try to play a
style you hate, your game world will come
down around your ears.

S. D. Anderson
Whittier CA
(Dragon #155)