In the AD&D® game, the rules for resolving
melee are concise and simple. This
promotes role-playing and heroics over
the secondary details of precisely how a
blow strikes or misses. This simple system
fulfills its function admirably. However,
any tactics besides running away instead
of fighting are neglected as a result. Luckily,
as the system is open-ended, rules
simulating a defensive or offensive posture
in melee can easily be added.

Many games in which man-to-man combat
is an integral part permit characters to
parry, dodge, or otherwise negate blows
by allowing combatants to roll against an
appropriate skill or ability. This gives
players a greater feeling of control over
what happens to their characters during
melee. Unfortunately, such a system
makes additional rules references and die
rolls a necessary evil that slows down the
action. In the AD&D game, where minutes
of game time are ideally resolved with but
a few quick tosses of the dice, such a
system is not desirable. Likewise, systems
that allow the employment of very specific
strikes and similar actions do not truly
belong in most AD&D games, where much
of the activity in a melee round is assumed
and comes to life only when narrated by a
Dungeon Master.

The rules here present a set of closecombat
tactics that allow combatants to
better control their actions in the midst of
battle. These rules create the various
strategic possibilities of melee without
changing the existing game rules or causing
the need for additional die rolls each
round.

Note that the AD&D 2nd Edition rules
offer a simple solution to the problem of
the lack of possible options in melee by
introducing an optional parrying rule
(Player's Handbook, page 100). Unfortunately,
this rule is an all-or-nothing affair.
Besides being of limited use to a primarily
low-level game, this does not address the
possibility of any tactic other than a defensive
one. Since the parrying rule in the
PHB and melee-tactics system presented
here do not work together, consider the
rules here as a possible replacement to the
parrying rule for those who want to add a
little more substance to their AD&D game
battles.

The basics
Page 105 of the AD&D 1st Edition Players
Handbook contains the passage: "The 1
minute melee round assumes much
activity rushes, retreats, feints, parries,
checks, and so on. Once during this period
each combatant has the opportunity to get
a real blow in."  Building on this statement,
one can conclude that a tactically minded
warrior can decide how much he lets his
guard down when attempting this blow.
Likewise, a desperate warrior can attack
with complete abandon, neglecting the
evasions and parries assumed to be a part
of the melee round.

This can easily be simulated in combat
by allowing combatants to select from five
styles of fighting: normal attack and defense;
active defense; full defense; active
attack; and full attack.

The ?normal attack and defense? style of
fighting uses the standard AD&D rules for
melee combat, assuming a generally equal
distribution between offensive and defensive
actions on the part of any given combatant.
Used extensively when combat is
between fairly balanced forces, with neither
side having gained the upper hand,
normal attack and defense is the most
commonly used melee tactic.

Though not an addition to the rules, the
normal mode of attacking is shown here
for the purpose of comparison. It is the
midpoint on which the following offensive
and defensive tactics are based.

In all tactics that follow, the modifiers to
hit and to armor class are cumulative with
bonuses and penalties for strength, dexterity,
magical bonuses, weapon proficiency,
weapon specialization, and other situations.
The armor-class modifiers apply
only to the final armor class of the attacker,
not his armor type (a distinction important
if weapon type vs. armor modifiers
are used in an AD&D 1st Edition game).

Tactic initiative modifiers are applied to
the initiative die roll. Modifiers for the
AD&D 1st Edition game are applied to the
1d6 initiative roll, where the highest roll
wins, but applies only if every combatant
on the side of the battle in question uses
the same tactic. If individual initiative dice
are rolled, the appropriate modifiers are
allowed only to those combatants using
these tactics.

Tactic modifiers for the AD&D 2nd
Edition game may be applied to either the
optional group initiative or individual
initiative system of the AD&D 2nd Edition
game (see pages 94-95 of the Player?s
Handbook). If the standard initiative system
is employed, tactic initiative modifiers
affect the 1d10 roll only when everyone
on one side of the fight is employing the
same tactic.

Active defense: This allows some
attacking when an obvious advantage
presents itself, but there is an underlying
commitment to defensive movements
during the course of the melee round.
Depending on the individual performing
the action, active defense may consist of
quick dodges and circling maneuvers, a
raised and braced shield, a bladed weapon
extended in a ready position to keep opponents
at a distance or to abruptly strike if
they come too close, etc. A warrior who
must delay an enemy until aid arrives, or 
who has found himself without adequate
armor but must fight anyway, frequently
employs the active-defense tactic. Another
common use of this tactic is by cautious
fighting men who want to ?feel their opponents
out? for a round or two to get an
estimate of their opponents? abilities, with
some insurance against a quick death dealt
by a vastly superior foe.

A shield-bearing character using active
defense has a -2 penalty on his attack
rolls and a +2 bonus to his armor class
for the round. A character without a
shield gains only a + 1 bonus to his armor
class with a -2 penalty to hit. Thus, a
ranger with leather armor and a shield
who uses active defense has a frontal
armor class of 7 - 2 = 5; if he had no
shield, the ranger would have AC 6. Using
the AD&D 1st Edition rules, a character
using this tactic has a - 1 penalty on initiative.
In AD&D 2nd Edition rules, there is a
+2 initiative penalty with this tactic.

Full defense: This tactic is akin to
active defense but to a more extreme
degree. The defender abandons all offensive
actions in lieu of protective stances,
blocks, and evasions. A character who is
so badly wounded that the slightest blow
is sure to slay him often utilizes this tactic
in the hopes that he can survive long
enough for his comrades to win the day. A
character using this tactic cannot make
any attack rolls at all; nor can he cast
spells of any sort.

If he has no shield, he gains a +2 bonus
to his armor class for that round. If he has
a shield, he receives a +4 bonus on his
AC for that round, excluding all
shield bonuses. Initiative rolls are irrelevant,
since the character takes no action
other than to defend himself; he cannot
run away while using this tactic. Thus, a
ranger in chain mail with a body shield
using full defense has an armor class of
4 - 4 = 0 to his front and flanks, but he has
AC 5 from the rear. If he had no shield, he
would have AC 2 from the front and
flanks.

A body shield used in this manner offers
a total bonus of +6 to armor class vs.
normal missile fire (excluding objects
hurled by giants or siege engines); this
bonus is in addition to all shield bonuses.
Protection from missile fire applies only in
the direction from which the missiles are
coming. Full-defense, dexterity, and shield
bonuses to armor class apply only to the
character?s front and flanks, not to his
rear. The ranger in the previous example
would be AC -2 vs. arrow fire from orcish
archers to his front, but not to those
from either flank or to his rear.

Active attack: This offensive tactic is
characterized by the launching of a series
of well-aimed attacks in the effort to land
an effective blow. Of course, the attacker
doing this must abandon a great deal of
caution, lower his guard while winding up
for the enhanced attack, and accept a
greater chance of being struck by the
enemy. This tactic is used when fighting
foes with good armor classes and in situations
when it is important to hit an opponent
quickly. A character making use of
this tactic has a + 1 bonus on all attack
rolls that round and has a - 1 penalty to
his AC for the round. No armor
classes above (worse) than 10 are possible.
The attacker can use a shield of medium
size or smaller with this tactic, but a larger
shield is too clumsy to handle with an
active attack. In 1st Edition rules, use of
this tactic entails a + 1 initiative bonus for
the attacker; in 2nd Edition rules, there is
a -2 bonus to initiative.

Full attack: This tactic embodies a
simple idea: to hurl blow after blow at an
enemy without pausing to dodge or parry.
Full attack is a strategy of the foolhardy,
the desperate, the berserk, or the extremely
well armored. This tactic does not
replace the charging rules in either edition
of the AD&D game books, as it is not the
same thing (see the 1st Edition DMG, page
66, or the 2nd Edition DMG, page 59). A
character may not charge and use the fullattack
option in the same round unless he
is entitled to more attacks after the initial
charge in the same round (see ?Special
cases?). No bonuses are gained by bracing
a weapon against a foe using this tactic.

A character utilizing this tactic has a +2
bonus on to-hit rolls and a - 2 penalty to
his armor class for the round. No armor
classes above (worse) than 10 are possible.
No shield can be used by the attacker, and
no dexterity bonuses for armor class are
applied. Using 1st Edition rules, the initiative
modifier for the attacker is a +2
bonus; for 2nd Edition rules, it?s a - 3
bonus.

For example: Trad, a fighter with an
average dexterity and leather armor, performs
the full-attack tactic. When he is
attacked that round, Trad suffers a -2
penalty on his normal armor class of 8,
resulting in an armor class of 10 for the
round. If Trad had no armor to protect
himself (AC 10), the full-attack option
would still leave him with AC 10.

Optional rule: Berserker NPCs (as per
the Monstrous Compendium, ?Men?) may
be allowed to use the full-attack routine
while doubling their normal number of
attacks per round, to make their attacks
more deadly. Thus, a 7th-level warrior
who was a berserker could attack 3 
times per round at +2 to hit, but would 
otherwise be subject to all the restrictions 
given in the article for full attacks. 

Close-Combat Tactics Table

Tactic	Attack modifier	Initiative modifier*	AC modifier**
Active defense	-2 penalty	-1/+2 penalty	+1/+2 bonus
Full defense	nil	nil	+2/+4 bonus***
Active attack	+1 bonus	+1/+2 bonus	-1 penalty
Full attack	+2 bonus	+2/+3 bonus	+2 penalty

* Figures before the slash are for the AD&D 1st Edition game; those after the slash are for the AD&D 2nd Edition game.

** Figures before the slash are for combatants not using shields; those after the slash are for those with shields.

*** +6 bonus with a body shield vs. small missiles.

Tactics in play
To use one of these tactics in place of
attacking and defending normally, a player
must declare his desire to do so at the
beginning of a melee round before any
initiative rolls are made. All appropriate
modifiers are then applied for the tactic
declared, as per the Close-Combat Tactics
Table herein. At the end of the round in
which the tactic was used, the person who
employed the tactic may either keep using
that tactic, change tactics, or attack normally
in the next round.

To save the DM the trouble of asking
each player in turn if his character is
using a tactic or is attacking normally at
the start of each round, it is generally
expedient to assume that any given combatant
will always employ the same tactic
used on the previous round, unless the
player controlling the combatant specifically
declares otherwise before the initiative
roll. Any character using a melee
weapon with which he has proficiency or
specialization is free to employ any tactic
he desires. These tactics are not restricted
to the fighter class. Subject to the DM?s
discretion, some weapon-using monster
and humanoid types can be disciplined
enough to perform these tactics. Someone
wielding a weapon without proficiency in
that weapon may not use any of the offensive
or defensive tactics listed here.

The following is an example of how
these rules might be used in play:

DM: ?Avorak, you?re in the doorway to
the central chamber. You were seriously
wounded by the ogre guard after you
missed it with your broad sword. It?s a
new round, so roll initiative.?

Avorak's player: ?How far back down the
passage is the rest of the party?

DM: "About eighty feet."

Avorak's player: "I don't want get bashed
again. I'm going to use full defense as I
withdraw back toward the rest of the
party. That makes my armor class of four
go down to zero."

DM (after referring to a table and rolling 
a die); "All right.  You raise your trusty 
shield, and crash! You parry the ogre's 
club and step out of his way."

From this example, it is apparent that
close-combat tactics in melee allow those
engaged in combat a greater variety of
possible actions and provide a vehicle on
which game-enhancing role-playing can be
based. Beyond this, the use of the system
can aid players and DMs in the narrating
and visualizing of combat scenes that
might otherwise be a meaningless test of
dice-rolling with little strategy involved to
spark interest.

Special cases
Multiple attacks: The attack modifier
of a tactic being used by a warrior with
more than 1 attack per round is applied
to each attack the warrior can make that
round.

The initiative modifiers of the tactics
given here are not affected if the user is
capable of multiple attacks. They are
exactly the same as in standard situations
and are applied in exactly the same way as
with tactics? uses by those with only one
attack per round.

The armor class modifiers for tacticsusing
combatants with more than one
attack are implemented normally; they
simply are applied as shown on the Close-
Combat Tactics Table.

Fighting men who get 3/2 or 5/2 attacks
per round use tactics normally, with one
exception. These characters must use one
tactic per set of attacks (3 or 5 as above),
not per round. This means that a fighters
with 3/2 or 5/2 attacks per round must
keep the same tactic for two consecutive
rounds?the time needed to make one set
of attacks.

Multiple weapons: The same rules
for tactics that apply to those capable of
multiple attacks with a single weapon also
apply to any character getting extra attacks
through the use of two weapons at
once (see the 1st Edition DMG, page 70, or
the 2nd Edition Player?s Handbook, page
96). Note that most characters using two
weapons will suffer penalties for using
more than one weapon in combat. Be sure 
to figure these penalties in when adding a
tactic?s bonuses and penalties.
    <Fighting With Two Weapons, Best of Dragon IV>

Multiple natural attacks: Humanoid
beings that attack using armor and weapons,
much like player characters, use
these rules normally. Nonhumanoid monsters
and animals that rely on natural
weaponry must abide by certain strictures
when they employ close-combat tactics,
unless the DM sees any reason why the
monsters in question should be excluded
from using tactics (centaurs, for example,
might use all such routines).

Monsters such as these are limited in
their use of tactics in that they may only
employ the active-defense and activeattack
options. This is because the use of
natural weaponry is usually little more
than undisciplined instinct refined by
whatever intelligence the creature or
animal in question possesses. Also, it is
difficult to perform complex parrying or
chopping maneuvers with claws and teeth.
Optionally, humanoid beings larger than
ogres may be placed in this category.

When tactics don't apply
There are some situations that occur in
melee where close combat tactics may not
be employed. When a surprise attack is
made, as from behind or from an invisible
being, tactics may not be used by the
attacker. Similarly, when attacking a sleeping
or defenseless opponent, the attacker
cannot use these tactics. This is because
the use of tactics entails performing certain
types of actions for an entire round,
and these are not the same actions as
making a sudden, telling stroke from
surprise. Surprise situations are covered
by their own melee rules.

The AC modifiers gained from
tactics uses do affect missiles being fired
at the tactics? user. The erratic dodges of a
defensive-tactic user can easily foil a bowman
?s aim just as the predictable movements
of an offensive tactic user can aid it.
Conversely, tactics cannot be used by
anyone wielding a missile weapon, since
the discharging of missiles generally requires
the firer to stay still or at least
move with smooth, predictable motions.

Conclusion
The easiest way to make the tactics
system an option in your AD&D game is to
have the other gamers in your group look
over this article. Then make two copies of
the Close-Combat Tactics Table and affix
the information to both sides of the local
DM?s screen or to anything else in everyone
?s view. That should be more than
sufficient provision for anyone wanting to
have their character employ melee tactics
in the game.