Updated Sample List of Combat Maneuvers

Here's the list of sample Combat Maneuvers I handed out to my players. Players are free to try anything and come up with more such maneuvers, subject to DM approval. Anything approved, that is of general applicability, will be added to the list.

Charging: A creature who is more than 10’ away from their target, may Charge one time per
Turn, moving at double their normal movement rate and attacking in the same round. They
receive a +2 bonus to hit, but suffer a -1 penalty to their AC and lose any Dexterity bonus to
AC when charging. If the defender has a weapon which is longer than that of the attacker’s,
then the defender will attack first. Certain weapons (spears, lances and halberds) may be
“set” against a charge, and will inflict double damage if a hit is scored upon a charging
attacker. A rider upon a warhorse and wielding a lance, will do double damage for the
weapon, on a charge. A creature may not charge if they are at their maximum amount of
encumbrance, unless they are on a warhorse which is not at its maximum encumbrance.

Close To Attack: Unless charging, a Character may close to within melee range (10’) and
then attack on the next round.

Defensive Fighting: Any Character except an MU, may opt to fight defensively, bettering
their AC by 2 but sacrificing a -3 to hit. Attack rate is halved, when fighting defensively.

Disarm: Any character but a MU may attempt to disarm an opponent, who is wielding a
one-handed weapon. An attack roll is made vs. AC 2 for small weapons and AC 4 for medium
weapons, modified by the defender’s dexterity. If a hit is made, the defender must make a
saving throw to hold onto his weapon. If the save succeeds, the defender may make a free
attack against his opponent.

(the above is a slightly tweaked version of Michael Curtis' Quick & Dirty Disarm Rule.)

Mounted Attack: A mounted Fighter, Ranger or Paladin attacking enemies on foot, receives
a +1 bonus to their to hit rolls and to their AC. If attacking while riding a trained Warhorse,
or similar creature, the bonuses are at +2.

Frenzied Attack: A Fighter, Ranger, Druid or Cleric, may launch an all-out attack during a
round, putting themselves in harm’s way in an attempt to damage their opponent. They will
attack at +2 to hit, but will suffer an AC penalty of 3. A Critical Hit or Miss, made during a
Reckless Attack, might be truly awesome or utterly disastrous.

Retreat: If a creature is moving away at greater than half his normal movement rate,
opponents will get a free attack at +2 to hit and no AC adjustment from Dexterity or a shield
may be used by the defender. A character may perform a Fighting-retreat at one-third his
movement rate, but his rate of attack will be halved. This may be combined with Defensive
Fighting, with no further penalty to rate of attack.

Shield Bash: A character may forgo his shield bonus to AC and make a shield bash attack at
+1 to hit. If successful, he will do 1d4 points of damage and may make an opposed Strength
Check against his opponent, with a bonus equal to the amount of damage inflicted. If
successful, his opponent will be knocked prone. For Ogre sized creatures, the strength check
will be made with no bonus. Creatures larger than an Ogre may not be knocked prone.

Two-weapon Fighting: A character, other than an MU, with a Dexterity of 13+ may fight
using two one handed weapons, the secondary weapon being no larger than a shortsword.
This does not grant an extra attack, due to the abstract nature of combat rolls in D&D.
Fighting with two weapons grants a +1 to hit, or a -1 bonus to AC. The Player may choose
which bonus he wishes and it will be assumed to go towards his attacking abilities, if he does
not make his wishes known. The player may choose, which weapon scored the damage.

Combat Maneuvers and Modifiers

Mostly traditional, with a few tweaks and additions. Along with a borrowing or three from 3e. The following list is geared toward my LL/AEC Houserules. 

The Following is declared Open Game Content.

Combat Maneuvers and Modifiers

Attacking Invisible Enemies: Attacks against invisible opponents are -4 to hit and they will receive a +4 bonus to any saving throws. The attacker must have an approximate idea of where the invisible creature may be, to even attempt an attack. More experienced/powerful PC’s, NPC’s and Monsters, have a chance, based upon Intelligence and/or other abilities, to approximately locate an invisible opponent.

Charging: A creature who is more than 10’ away from their target, may Charge one time per Turn, moving at double their normal movement rate and attacking in the same round. They receive a +2 bonus to hit, but suffer a -1 penalty to their AC and lose any Dexterity bonus to AC when charging. If the defender has a weapon which is longer than that of the attacker’s, then the defender will attack first. Certain weapons (spears, lances and halberds) may be “set” against a charge, and will inflict double damage if a hit is scored upon a charging attacker. A rider upon a warhorse and wielding a lance, will do double damage for the weapon, on a charge. A creature may not charge if they are at their maximum amount of encumbrance, unless they are on a warhorse which is not at its maximum encumbrance. When Charging while on a mount, the Character must be at least 60’ away at the beginning of the Charge.

Close To Attack: Unless charging, a Character may close to within melee range (10’) and then attack on the next round.

Defensive Fighting: A Fighting-man, Paladin or Ranger may opt to fight defensively, lowering their AC by -2 but sacrificing a -2 to hit. Attack rate is halved, when fighting defensively.

Firing Missile Weapons into Melee: If a ranged weapon is fired into a melee in which an ally is involved, the attacker will be at a -4 penalty to hit as his ally is providing cover for his enemy. If he misses his target by 1 - 4, he will hit the ally instead. The attacker may reduce this penalty to -2, by taking the time to carefully study the situation and wait for an opportune moment. This will reduce his rate of fire by half. He will then only hit an ally if he misses by 1 - 2.

Flanking: If two attackers manage to flank a single opponent, the attackers receive a +1 bonus to hit.

Mounted Attack: A mounted Fighter, Paladin or Ranger, attacking enemies on foot, receives a +1 bonus to their to hit rolls and to their AC. If attacking while riding a trained Warhorse, or similar creature, the bonuses are at +2.

Prone Defenders: Attacks made against a prone defender are at +3 to hit and the defender loses any Dexterity bonus to AC. Attacks made from a prone position are at -2 to hit.

Frenzied Attack*: A Fighter or Ranger may launch an all-out attack during a round, putting themselves in harm’s way in an attempt to damage their opponent. They will attack at +2 to hit, but will suffer an AC penalty of 3. A Critical Hit or Miss, made during a Reckless Attack, might be truly awesome or utterly disastrous.

*At the LL's discretion, the first time a Fighter or Ranger uses this combat option, he may be required (or allowed) to roll a percentile check. On a result of 05% or lower, the Character is a Berserker! 

Retreat: If a creature is moving away at greater than one third his movement rate, opponents will get a free attack at +2 to hit and no AC adjustment from Dexterity or a shield may be used by the defender. A character may perform a Fighting-retreat at one-third his movement rate, but his rate of attack will be halved. This may be combined with Defensive Fighting, with no further penalty to the rate of attack.

Rear Attacks: Attacks from the rear are at +2. The defender loses any Dexterity bonus to AC and no protection from a shield is possible.

Spears and Halberds: These weapons, wielded by attackers in the second rank of a battle formation, can attack past the first rank.

Stunned Opponents: A Stunned opponent is at +4 to hit and loses any Dexterity or shield adjustments to AC. His rate of attack will be halved.

Terrain and Cover: Some terrain, such as high and low ground can give a bonus or penalty to attacks. (Usually +/- 1.) Cover will provide a bonus to AC of 2 to 10, depending upon the amount of cover.

Two-weapon Fighting: A Fighting-man, Ranger, Paladin, Thief or Halfling Hero with a Dexterity of 13+ may fight using two one handed weapons, the secondary weapon being no larger than a shortsword. Fighting with two weapons does not grant an extra attack, due to the abstract nature of combat rolls in D&D. Instead, a +1 to hit, or a -1 bonus to AC is given. The Player may choose which bonus he wishes and it will be assumed to go towards his attacking abilities, unless he states otherwise. In two-weapon fighting, the off-hand weapon is used as a parrying device, more often than to make attacks. When a hit is scored, the player rolls a d6. On a 1 or 2, the off-hand weapon scored the damage.

Weaponless Defenders: A character being attacked by an enemy wielding a melee weapon, who is not wielding one himself, or otherwise equipped, such as in the case of natural weaponry is at +2 to hit.

Some Combat Options and Going Berserk!

Defensive Fighting: A Fighter, Paladin or Ranger may opt to fight defensively, lowering their AC by -2 but sacrificing a -2 to hit. Attack rate is halved, when fighting defensively.

Frenzied Attack: A Fighter or Ranger may launch an all-out attack during a round, giving in to their battle lust and putting themselves in harm’s way in an attempt to damage their opponent. They will attack at +2 to hit, but will suffer an AC penalty of +3. A Critical Hit or Miss, made during a Reckless Attack, might be truly awesome or utterly disastrous.

At the DM's discretion, the first time a Fighter or Ranger uses this combat option, he may be required (or allowed) to roll a percentile check. On a result of 05% or lower, the Character is a Berserker!

Berserker – Any time the Fighter or Ranger enters into melee, there is a 20% chance he will give in to his bloodlust, entering a berserker frenzy. If he does not enter his Berserker state at the beginning of an encounter, there is a 70% chance he will do so if he is reduced to 1/3 of his Hit Points or less. When in this state, he will receive a -2 bonus to initiative, a +2 bonus to hit and damage, but suffer an AC penalty of +2. When his foes have been vanquished, the Berserker must make a Saving Throw vs. Petrification to regain enough control, to avoid attacking his allies or innocent bystanders.

After coming out of a Berserk state, the Fighting-man will be shaken and ill, necessitating complete rest, for 3d4 Turns. At 9th level, the Fighting-man, of his own will, may push his initial chance to go Berserk up to 40% during any particular encounter and his recovery time will drop to 1d4 Turns.

The Berserker may not utilize the Frenzied Attack combat option, as for him, trying to enter such a state of battle-lust is tantamount to trying to go Berserk and this fight to hold or lose control is handled by the percentile checks, given above.

Segmented Combat and Spellcasting

This is pretty much how I ran combat, back in my AD&D days, with a few tweaks added for this version. I'm not sure if I want to go the simpler route, or go whole hog and use combat segments again. I do like enjoy the whole Segment thing, though. I may change the whole Surprise segment attacks, to one attack per surprise segment, instead of one complete attack action for the whole of the surprise.

COMBAT

The order of events for a Combat encounter is as follows:

1. Determination of Surprise: The GM determines if any of the parties have a chance of Surprising their opponents. If so, and it is determined that one or more sides are surprised, then the side(s) with the least number of segments of surprise may act, including taking up to one full attack action, before normal initiative is then rolled. Spells may be cast or started during this round, though the completion may spill over into the normal initiative round. Surprise will normally be rolled on 1d6 for all sides in the encounter and a roll of 1 or 2, indicates a like number of segments of surprise for the sides which rolled that result. Some creatures have a greater chance of Surprising opponents than usual. Others have a smaller chance of being Surprised.

A +1 Perception bonus will reduce a Character’s chance of being surprised by 1. Likewise, a +2 will reduce this chance by 2, and so forth. Regardless, a Parties chance of being surprised can never be reduced to below a 1, on whatever die is being used to determine the result. When rolling for surprise, one Player will roll for the party and the result will be based on the Character with the best Perception bonus. If the results determine that the Party has segments of surprise, then the Reaction Adjustment for Dexterity, may reduce the number of surprise segments, for individual Characters.

It is entirely possible for more than one side to be surprised, for an equal, greater or lesser number of segments than the other side or sides in the confrontation. There will be only one surprise round in a confrontation and after it has been adjudicated, as well as in cases where no surprise was determined to exist, Combat proceeds to step two.

2. Declaration of Spells: Any Player who is planning to cast a spell during the Round in question, must state that he is doing so and which spell he is casting.

3. Determine Initiative: All Players roll a d10, adding any reaction adjustment from Dexterity. This determines upon which segment the Character may act, with high rolls going first and Dexterity breaking any ties, if necessary. The GM rolls initiative for all non-player combatants.

4. Taking Action: Upon their initiative, players may take what action they wish, including any movement and attacks. Their opponents will likewise act, upon their own initiative.

4A. Spellcasting: Characters who are casting spells, will begin casting upon their segment of initiative. Each spell has a Casting Time which is then subtracted from the Characters initiative,
determining when the spell goes off. If the spell takes longer to cast than there are remaining segments in the round, then the casting time will spill over into the next round. In such cases, the spellcaster will make another initiative roll, after the spell goes off, which will be based upon the number of segments remaining and determine when he may begin another action.

After a Player has declared what spell he is casting, he is assumed to be gathering his components and readying himself to begin the casting. The Magic-user may not change his mind, as regards the specific spell he has chosen to cast, but he may, up until the segment of his initiative, which is when the spell-casting actually starts, decide to not cast any spell at all. In such cases, he will not lose the spell in question and may only move that round. If the Magic-user is hit and takes any damage, during the segments in which the spell is actually being cast, he will lose the spell and it will fail to take effect. Likewise, if he is grappled or otherwise violently disturbed, he will not be able to complete the casting and the spell will be lost. The Magic-user may not utilize his Dexterity Adjustment to armor class while casting and will be at an additional +2 to hit, due to not being able to properly defend himself.

If damage is taken before casting begins (before the caster’s initiative,) the Magic-user may still attempt the spell, but if an enemy is within melee range he will be leaving himself vulnerable to attack. Even if his enemy has already attacked for the round, said enemy will be enabled to do so again, due to the Magic-user’s attention being upon casting a spell instead of properly defending himself. Any being within 10’ of the Magic-user, so long as that being isn’t otherwise engaged or involved in melee with someone else, will be able to attempt to interrupt the caster, even if they have already attacked and moved for the round. If an enemy hasn’t taken his initiative yet, he will be able to attack the caster if his movement rate allows him to reach the Magic-user. Of course, everything written here concerning Player Characters, holds true for any NPC or Monster, under the GM’s control.

5. Held Initiative: Initiative may be held, the holder waiting until the end of the round to take an action. If desired, this may be carried over to the next round, and the action taken when the holder desires. Once the action has been taken, the holder will once again roll initiative as normal, at the beginning of the next round.

6. End of the Round: If Combat is to continue, roll Initiative.