Measuring Combat Power

Continuing my thoughts on the the Swords & Wizardry Quick Primer for Old School Gaming. I am thinking about combat power today, and the ability for players to change the conditions on the tabletop battlefield and improve their odds. This is about the questions:

• How do I increase my chance to hit?
• How do I increase my damage output?
• How can I help my party members?

 Let's go back to the Old School Primer for a paraphrased example of old-school combat:

GM: "The goblin snarls, and swings his axe wildly. You are AC 5, and checking the chart, he needs a 14 to hit you. A roll of 3 is a miss, and a pretty sorry roll. The goblin's axe embeds itself in the wooden post next to the table, and he struggles to free it. All right, what do you do?"
Player: "I fall back behind the table, and kick it over onto the goblin. Attack roll is a 17!"
GM: "Nice roll, the goblin is AC 6 so you only needed a 13. The table slams into the goblin, crushing him against the post, killing the goblin. Also, the food and plates on the table shower into the two archers behind it, a bowl of mashed yams landing on the head of one, the other wiping food from his face. They lose their next turn of firing. Next!"

Combat is fast and loose, and a lot of it is up to the referee's imagination and the dice. Good rolls mean good things happen, and bad rolls mean otherwise. Referees are free to interpret results, add extra damage, throw out bonuses and penalties to hit, apply injuries and conditions at will, and interpret the chaos as fair as possible - with an eye towards being entertaining.

Now, a more modern interpretation of the same combat with more modern rules:

GM: "The goblin snarls, and swings his axe wildly. You are AC 16, so he needs a 16 to hit you. A roll of 3 is a miss, and a pretty sorry roll. The goblin's axe embeds itself in the wooden post next to the table, and he struggles to free it. All right, what do you do?"
Player: "I fall back behind the table, and kick it over onto the goblin. I only move 5' as not to trigger an attack of opportunity. Attack roll is a 17, plus 4 is a 21."
GM: "That is like an unarmed attack action, so it triggers an attack of opportunity, and the goblin gets another attack."
Player: "Give me a break!"
GM: "No breaks, rules-as-written for this example.This is also like 'move a heavy object' so it's an AoO. Goblin rolls 11, a miss."
GM: "Let's get back to your nice roll, the goblin is AC 16 so you only needed a 16. This is kinda like falling 10-feet, so I rule it's 1d6 damage, plus a reflex save to see if the goblin jumps out of the way and isn't therefore pinned (cannot move, -4 AC).The table slams into the goblin, crushing him against the post, and he takes 3 hp damage. Reflex save DC is, um, 15, with a +2 to the roll due to the goblin's REF save. And he rolls a 9, so the goblin is pinned. Also, the food and plates on the table shower into the two archers behind it, a bowl of mashed yams landing on the head of one, the other wiping food from his face. Let me make some fort saves for them to avoid blind conditions.... Next!"

I didn't intend to be snarky here, as I enjoy tactical simulations rules - the goal was to handle this by the rules like a pro-dungeon master. There are a couple stumble-points here that tricked me up when I first played and learned the rules. For fun, let's shorthand this:

GM: "The goblin attacks. You are AC 16, a roll of 3 is a miss. You're up."
Player: "I fall back behind the table, and kick it over onto the goblin. Five-foot move, no AoO. Attack roll is a 17, plus 4 is a 21."
GM: "Move a heavy object' so it's an AoO. Goblin rolls 11, a miss."
GM: "The goblin is AC 16 , hit. 1d6 damage, plus a reflex save or pinned. Goblin takes 3 hp damage. Reflex save DC is, um, 15, with a +2 for REF. Rolled 9, goblin pinned. Other goblins go now."

A good DM will enhance the experience no matter what you are playing, no question. The less rules, the greater players can influence the outcome of combat with imagination and clever strategy. Modern games with their tabletop roots tend to make everything a wargame, and drain all the fun out of combats. When you are busy remembering and applying rules, there is less time for creative inspiration.

Another issue comes up where players in old-school combat resolution simply have more options to increase their combat power than do players in more modern versions of RPGs. In the old days, it as common to throw out huge bonuses or penalties to-hit, damage bonuses, injuries, or conditions based on what was happening at the moment. Jump attack hits? Great, you do double damage! Shining a light into the dragon's eyes with your mirror shield? He gets a -4 to-hit as long as you keep that up. A great player could think of all sorts of ways to take advantage of a situation, and therefore the PC's combat power went up significantly.

Again, the difference between a good player and a great one was purely based on imagination and creativity in combat, and not the memorization of the rules or ability to apply a character build.