Positioning, Distance, and Ranges in Combat (2024)

When talking about this topic, I find it helpful to compare and contrast the difference in ethos between 4th Edition D&D and 5th Edition D&D.

In 4th Edition, generally each character's move speed was 6 squares, with the smaller races getting 5, and the odd ones (such as elves) getting 7. This is pretty comparable to 5e, where the ranges are all multiplied by 5ft, but otherwise remain the same.

Also worth mentioning is that in 4e, the ranges of most spells were 5 or 10 squares (compared to 30ft-120ft for 5e). Most ranged weapons were between 10-15 squares (vs. 30ft-100ft for bows/crossbows in 5e) and their long ranges were only double the base range (as compared to quadruple, in 5e). The charge action in 4e allowed you to move your speed and to make a melee basic attack, all as a standard action; what this meant was that a character with the typical speed of 6 could move 12 squares while still attacking on their turn. I would also point out that class features such as prime shot (for the Ranger and the Warlock classes) incentivized players to keep within about 10 squares of the center of the action.

What I observed from playing 3.5 and 4e in particular is that combat tended to involve crowding into whatever was the obvious open clearing in a given map (often near the middle.) Particularly with the flanking rules, there ended up being sort of a conga-line of melee characters and enemies all bunched up together. There wasn't a lot of "verticality" involved, most of the time, either.

This intention to keep the action close together is what inspired the more abstracted rules around positioning, in TNP. (Also, at a certain point, if you're far enough away, is it even fair to consider the combatants to be in the same "arena" as each other? Should they be in initiative against one another?) The system heavily borrows from 13th Age, where combat has effectively a front rank, a middle rank, and a back rank -- which TNP simplifies down to two ranks: essentially, melee and ranged (actually, "maelstrom" and "open").

The exception to this would be forms of "verticality" which in TNP have been either described as high ground (typically terrain or structures) or altitude (typically from flying or levitation). Cover also functions similarly to high ground, in that it is typically granted by terrain or architecture, and serves to bestow certain bonuses or penalties depending upon the relative positioning of the combatants involved; it's also possible to be behind the same piece of cover as an enemy, just as you can potentially be on the same piece of high ground with them.

When you are in melee with one or more enemies, this is called a maelstrom, and there are all sorts of rules around who can attack what, when in a maelstrom. This is also described as being adjacent; allies may join each other's existing maelstroms, and you can be adjacent to enemies or allies. If characters are in separate maelstroms from each other, they are not considered to be nearby; only allies who are in the same maelstrom together or who are open, are considered to be nearby. This is relevant for targeting with certain abilities. When you are in a maelstrom, you have disadvantage on ranged attack rolls, as is comparable to the rules in 5e.

You are not considered to be in a maelstrom anytime there are no enemies adjacent to you; this is referred to as being "open." As discussed in the previous post, some actions require you to be open, in order to take/trigger them. In TNP, making a melee attack when you are open is essentially the same as making a charge -- so there is no separate charge action; you close the distance with your target, and then attack it. Once you are adjacent to an enemy or enemies (i.e. in a maelstrom) your melee attacks can only target enemies in that maelstrom (until such time as you leave the maelstrom, of course.) Some classes can gain reach with their melee attacks, which allows them to target enemies outside of their maelstrom, as well as enemies which have some form of verticality.

The other "range" in terms of positioning (sort of, kind of) that I would include is being prone. Basically, since 4e functions off of a move action, it used this action to stand up from prone; since 5e functions off of move speed, it instead takes half of your speed to stand up. Moving while prone (i.e. crawling) essentially slows you to half-speed, in either edition. For TNP, since movement is so abstracted, I've settled on allowing any other normal movement while prone, but doing so will provoke opportunity attacks from adjacent enemies; this may need some testing to iron out. And obviously, you will need to stand up before you can attempt to climb or jump (which are the mundane methods for gaining high ground.)

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As always, let me know in the comments if there's anything glaring that I missed.
A bit of an extended break until the next post; check back for that on February 12th!

Actions in Combat (2024)

 A topic that's been on my mind lately is the action economy of the game, particularly in combat. To start with, there are 5 types of actions in TNP:

• Standard Action
• Move Action
• Minor Action
• Off-turn Action
• No Action

For those who remember 4th Edition D&D, there was an action type called "Free Action" which at first was unlimited, but later had to be limited down to once per round (if memory serves.) However, some powers were still considered to use "no action" and they tended to propogate as the edition crept on. The idea with TNP is to keep these types combined under the heading of "no action" but limited to once per round on your turn. Essentially, this would be the action type for anything taking place on your turn that isn't a Standard/Move/Minor; anything that might be considered using "no action" but taking place outside of your turn would probably need some justification, if it wouldn't count as an "off-turn action." I may tweak the names of these types of actions (as well as others) in the final text.

As mentioned in a previous post:

4th Edition D&D: Characters have a 1/round "immediate action" and a 1/turn "opportunity action"
5th Edition D&D: Characters have a 1/round "reaction"
The Next Project: Characters have a 1/turn "off-turn action"

Since these types of actions still generally require a specific trigger, I think this kind of setup strikes the right balance between availability of off-turn actions, and keeping the flow of combat from bogging down.

With that out of the way, I'd like to go over some of the typical uses of each action type.

Standard Actions:

• Making a basic attack (either ranged or melee)
• Using an iconic ability (such as other attacks or class features)
• Making most types of skill checks; some class features may allow checks to be made using different actions, but you are still limited to making one skill check on your turn
• Withdraw: Disengage from a maelstrom with more than one enemy; you can disengage from all enemies in the encounter, if you make a successful Acrobatics check as part of this action
• "Defend" action, granting a save bonus until the start of your next turn
• Perform any Minor Action (limit: only one of any given minor action, per turn) or Move Action

Move Actions:

• Engage: [while you are open] create a maelstrom with a number of open enemies, up to your engagement limit (dictated by your class dice) or join an existing maelstrom -- making a melee attack always causes you to become engaged with your target, unless you have "reach"
• Stand Up (from being prone) -- any other movement while prone will provoke opportunity attacks
• Take Cover: [while you are open] you move behind a source of cover, granting a save bonus
• Shift: disengage when you are in a maelstrom with only one enemy; you can disengage from a maelstrom with more than one enemy, if you make a successful Acrobatics check as part of this action
• Flee: move away from a maelstrom, provoking opportunity attacks from any enemies in that maelstrom
• Activate or change a feature with the "Form" keyword
• Escape: [at the end of your turn] You can make an Acrobatics check to escape from a grapple; if the check is successful and you are in a maelstrom with only one enemy, you can also Shift.
• Reversal: [at the start of your turn] You can make a Brawl check to reverse a grapple you are in

Minor Actions:

• Stand Up (from being prone) if you make a successful Acrobatics check as part of this action
• Tumble: You can disengage when you are in a maelstrom with only one enemy, if you make a successful Acrobatics check as part of this action
• Certain class features may call for a Minor Action, such as allowing you to make certain skill checks, or even basic attacks

Off-turn Actions:

• Take an Opportunity Attack, when/if triggered
• Feint: impose disadvantage on a saving throw, in order to deal opportunity damage back, if the save is successful
• Riposte: [when your saving throw is a critical success] deal opportunity damage back to an enemy who targeted you
• Intercept: [while you are open] on an enemy's turn, you can create a maelstrom with that enemy, if they make a melee attack while open, or if they move
• Fall Prone
• Take Cover [if you are open]
• Balance: [Acrobatics check] when you fall from heights, to avoid landing prone

No Action:

• Become open, if all enemies adjacent to you have become dropped
• End a grapple that you are controlling
• Take Cover: if you take another action which lets you disengage/become open
• Fall Prone
• Choose to power attack when making a basic attack as a standard action

Anyway, there's my list, mostly compiled from half-completed drafts of the rules -- plus stuff picked up along the way from various blog posts.
Hopefully I can find a way to nicely streamline it a little bit; if there's anything egregious that I forgot, let me know in the comments below.

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Next post is due for January 31st so make sure to check back around then!
With February being a short month, posts are planned only for the 12th and 22nd.

Foundations & Pillars (2024)

Throughout the past year, I've covered a variety of topics (in greater or lesser detail) relating to the game system; today I'm going to go over as many as I can come up with, and talk about where things are, and how they'll all need to come together.

On the DM side...
There are a few basic components:

• Monster Manual: the basic mechanics of monsters, the different types of monsters, general encounter-building advice, and some sample monsters
• Campaign Builder: the guidelines and mechanics for building out an entire campaign, either randomly or via a more curated approach, as well as handing out XP/leveling
• Non-combat encounters: the rules surrounding exploration, subterfuge, and social encounters -- including any exceptions to the general rules around skills (such as opposed checks rather than straight DC10)

In terms of general mechanics, the types of dice rolls and bonuses have been sharpened to a fine point. The conditions/status effects have been laid out and codified. I think part of the process of finalizing the designs will include making sure that the dice bonuses and status effects are utilized properly and adequately throughout the text. One thing that I need to iron out pertaining to positional conditions is whether to handle things like high ground, elevation, altitude, and hovering/levitation separately, or just amalgamate them together.

In terms of combat, the action economy and actions in combat need to be edited and updated, but the framework is essentially there; with the character classes now complete, the largest chunk of the combat mechanics are done. The class categories and their various progressions (as well as the general character progressions) have been hammered out, and the skill mechanics have been solidly in place for a while now. Feats need to be built out a bit, to include more combat-focused options in addition to skill and power source feats. Some of the classes were sort of hastily reworked, and so the proposed implementation of daily/encounter powers didn't really materialize for most of them; this might be something that can be redressed as things go on.

One other thing that will need to be hammered out (in terms of general rules) are things like keywords. Forms, concentration abilities, summoned creatures, and restoration abilities are just some examples of mechanics that have worked off of keywords in the past. These all need to be updated, and built into other mechanics (such as "boss" enemies being able to turn off abilities with certain keywords.) Stealth and surprise (and how those interact with initiative) as well as the interception and tumbling mechanics all need to be formalized, but the basics have already been laid out.

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Overall, the challenge I've found with designing the rules is how everything seems to feed into everything else. For example, if you knuckle-down and focus on hammering out character mechanics, sometimes you go back to monster design and realize you need to rethink things in light of new character stuff that has been implemented -- so every part of the design is (effectively) constantly evolving. Trying to find the right point to lock things down can feel like a game of whack-a-mole, at times. I think going forward, it'll be key to focus on fleshing out things that are not complete, rather than retooling things that are already considered to be "finished."