This Paradise Prison: Keep the Wrong Ones Out

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Historical Weapons and Combat Rules for K:DL

Inspired by a new game I'm playing in - GMed by Mr. Kultist, using the rules for K:DL but taking place in a fantasy setting - and sort of as a continuation of this post of mine, I have developed a few guidelines for adapting the tools of violence to different (i.e. earlier) time periods.

In many historical settings, the ratio of melee combat vs. ranged combat is likely to be inversely proportional to how it is in modern times. That is to say, the vast majority of violent conflict will probably be sorted out at close range. Melee aggression (and defense) therefore warrants a little bit of extra attention

To this end I've come up with a few new rules:


A New Range Increment

The reach of weapons is measured by their Distance attribute in K:DL, providing a rule of thumb for how close or far a given weapon or attack could feasibly hit its target. These are not overly granular, and they don't have to be. But for historical combat, one thing seemed to miss for me. 

We're adding a new range increment, called Grapple. It joins the existing ones at the top of the list, i.e. above Arm, Room, etc, and is defined as: 

    ◊ Grapple: When you are close enough to hug, strangle, or bite someone.

The Broken has had it with The Careerist's constant bullshit

Unarmed attacks are by default at Grapple range, while Edged Weapons may variously be judged as attacking at Grapple (e.g. knives, daggers, garrote, claws, teeth, stake) or Arm range (e.g. rapier, florett, javelin)

Closing or Increasing the Distance

In melee combat, the distance between opponents combined with the reach of their weapons may produce an delicate dance of death. Longer weapons are usually at an advantage against shorter ones - unless the enemy manages to maneuver themselves inside of your longer weapon's ideal range, whereupon the advantage goes to them instead.

When you wield a weapon with longer reach than your opponent, the GM may give you +1 on your attacks until the opponent manages to close the distance.

When your opponent wields a weapon with considerably longer reach than your own, the GM may require you to close the distance before you can attack.

If your opponent manages to decrease the distance lower than your weapons ideal reach, the GM may demand that you need to increase the distance before you are able to Engage in Combat again (otherwise you are limited to Avoid Harm).

The Avenger has returned from the other side to reckon with The Veteran for his crimes

To close or increase the distance is an Act under Pressure, with the opponent's weapon as the pressure. Advantages that let you spend Edges or choose Options to evade blows, block attacks, or move past enemies (e.g, Body Awareness, Daredevil, Death Drive, Genius, Ice Cold, Lightning Fast, Martial Arts Expert, Parkour or Streetfighter) can be used to close in or increase the distance in combat instead of having to Act under Pressure.

Using the Existing Weapon Types

The basic weapon types offered in K:DL are solid, and should be used as much as you possibly can.

Edged Weapons include knives, daggers, stilettos, rondel, zai (all Distance: Grapple) as well as rapiers, floretts, spatha, gladius, scimitars, javelins etc. (all Distance: Arm)

Chopping Weapons include meat cleavers, hatchets, axes, falchions, scimitars, kukri, wakizashi/katana, etc. (usually all Distance: Arm)

Crushing Weapons include clubs, maces, hammers, staffs etc. (usually Distance: Arm, though staff or longhammer could be judged Room perhaps?)

Notably, swords are one of the most successful weapon designs across many eras of history, since they are very versatile in their use. From a shortsword to a bastard sword, scimitar to katana, perhaps the most elegant way to represent this is to allow these arms to be used as either edged or chopping weapons.
The sword's wielder can freely decide to use the attack moves provided by either category. 

This would seem to make sense for weapons such as the gladius, spatha, saber, scimitar, falchion, katana, etc.

in case negotiations should turn aggressive...

Adding a Few New Weapon Types

There are certain kinds of armaments that cannot adequately be represented by the existing categories.
Let's add:

Great Weapons

Examples: battle axe, greatsword, warhammer.

Distance: Arm

Attacks:

    ◊ Mighty Swing [3] [Reduce Armor (-1)]

    ◊ Lunging Strike [3] [Distance: Room]

Drawback: Slow [when going against someone with a smaller, more agile weapon, you are at risk of losing the initiative. Upon first engaging such an opponent, you must Act Under Pressure before you can Engage in Combat. On a (-9), you may only Avoid Harm.]

Polearms

Examples: spear, halberd, poleaxe, trident, scythe.

Distance: room

Attacks:

    ◊ Stab / Slash [2]

    ◊ Keep at Bay [-] [Keep an opponent at Distance: Room, if they come closer than that you take +1 to your next move against that target.]

Drawback: Long and Unwieldy [Close confines (narrow corridors, low ceilings, dense vegetation) or opponents inside the weapon’s effective range may require you to Act under Pressure before you can use it efficiently.]



Ranged Weapons

Bow

Distance: room/field

Attacks:

    ◊ Combat shooting [2] [-1 Ammo]

    ◊ Volley of shots [1/3] [hit either a handful of targets standing in a close group for 1 Harm each, or hit one target for 3 Harm] [-3 Ammo]

Ammo: O O O O

Crossbow

Distance: room/field

Attacks:

    ◊ Combat shooting [3]

Ammo: special (see below)

Drawback: Reload [You need to wind up the weapon anew for every new shot. Doing this under time pressure or adverse circumstances (nasty weather, slippery ground underfoot, a fight going on around you) is an Act under Pressure. However, there’s no need to track Ammo for this weapon - as long as you have a fistful of bolts with you, you’re extremely unlikely to run out during any given combat scene.]



Rare and Exotic Weapons

Some Weapons are so rarely found that mastering them requires the user to buy this ability as a separate Advantage. These involve artful and fancy techniques, and are often less useful in actual combat and more utility tools that can do certain things, such as tormenting or capturing an opponent, or knocking them out at a distance.

Examples of such weapons include the whip, lasso, net, bola, boomerang, and discus. In order to be truly proficient with any of these, the Exotic Weapon Skill Advantage needs to be acquired.

Exotic Weapon Skill

You are trained in using one or more rare, exotic, and/or weird weapons. This proficiency allows you special maneuvers or attacks in combat when wielding that particular type of weapon(s).

When acquiring this Advantage, choose two of the moves below, and declare which weapon you can do them with. You can buy this Advantage more than once, every time adding two new moves (and possibly a new weapon) to your repertoire.

◊ Searing pain [2*] [Distance: Room, victim is struck in a very painful spot and is momentarily crippled by agonizing pain. PC victims must Keep it Together or double their wound penalty from this injury.]

◊ Entangle [-] [Distance: Room/Field, victim is immobilized until given some time to free themselves. PC victims may Act under Pressure to get free.]

◊ Disarm [-] [Distance: Room/Field, the victim loses a handheld object. PC victims must Avoid Harm to keep it in hand.]

◊ Knock down [1] [Distance: Room, Field. Victim is knocked to the ground, PC victims must Endure Injury and on anything less than (15+) are struck prone in addition to any other result.]

◊ Knock out [1] [Distance: Room, Field. Victim is knocked unconscious, PC victims must Endure Injury and on a (-9) are struck unconscious.]

◊ Returning projectile [-] [When it doesn’t hit its target, the weapon flies in a wide circle and returns (close to) where it was thrown from.]

◊ … []

◊ … []

(Note: In some cases, it can make sense to make the player choose one of the given Distance values. For example, someone using a whip might Disarm or Entangle an opponent at Distance: Room only, while someone with a bola could conceivably do the same things at Distance: Field.)


DEFENSIVE GEAR

PCs who wear armor receive a positive modifier to their Endure Injury roll. NPCs who wear armor subtract their armor rating from the amount of Harm they take each time it applies.

Armor    Rating      Examples

Light           +1       padded vest, gambeson, leather, hide, a choice few metal bits 
                               (e.g. pauldrons / knee caps / bracers / helmet…)

Medium      +2       chainmail, chestplate + bracers, reinforced leather + metal bits, 
                               boiled leather cuirass, scale mail…

Heavy         +3       plate armor, heavy chain + metal bits

pictured: medium armor, light armor, large shields, helmets

Shields 

Hybrid objects that act partly like defensive weapons and partly like passive armor, shields are a mainstay of warfare throughout virtually all epochs and cultures. 
All of them convey a certain bonus to attempts to Avoid Harm, and allow at least one (in some cases several) maneuvers to be executed with them.

Buckler             +1 Avoid Harm                      shield bash [1]

Small shield     +2 Avoid Harm                      shield bash [2], tackle [1], block open & strike [*]

Large shield     +2 Avoid Harm, +1 Armor     shield bash [2], tackle [1], block open & strike [*]

Tower shield     +3 Avoid Harm, +2 Armor     tackle [2]


Shield maneuvers

Shield bash [x] 

You can use your shield as a Crushing Weapon of the given [Harm] value, albeit at a -1 to Engage in Combat due to its comparatively bad ergonomics for that purpose.

Tackle [x] [Distance: Arm, victim is pushed up to Distance: Room and/or knocked over] 

is an attack that combines properties of the Shift and Knock Down attacks.

When successfully (10+) using your shield to shove and push an opponent in this way [Engage in Combat], you may choose to either move them up to Distance: Room, or to then knock them down. 

On a full success (15+) you may choose both of these options. 
PC victims can Avoid Harm to prevent being shoved and suffering the attack's Harm in the first place, or failing that, may Endure Injury against getting knocked down.

Block open & strike [*]
When you Avoid Harm with a (15+), you can use your shield to not only catch the blow but also sweep or push the opponent's weapon off to the side in the same movement, opening their defense for your next strike. Take +1 to your next attempt to Engage in Combat.

Note on Armor and Shields: With these rules mods, it is possible for well-protected NPCs to accrue up to 3, 4, or even 5 Armor. At the same time however, The greatest damage you can inflict with weapons is still around 3 Harm, mostly (not counting certain Advantages).

For example, even a greatsword or warhammer (with its -1 to armor) may be mathematically unable to hurt an especially heavily armored knight with a large shield. And regular melee weapons may seem ineffective even against someone in leather & shield, or an opponent simply wearing chainmail.

Keep in mind these rules are merely very rough abstractions, however. They work well enough where they give PCs the bonus to their Endure Injury rolls. Against NPCs on the other hand, feel free to use the same Armor values, but:

• Allow PCs to creatively use maneuvers, tactics, and stunts to circumvent (or reduce) the effectiveness of an opponent’s armor. The AuP, OaS, IO, and RaP Basic Moves can all conceivably be used to detect and create openings for injuring someone more efficiently than what the sheer numbers would have to say about it.

• Various Advantages, both of the kind that focus on acrobatics / mobility, and those dealing with manipulating / tricking someone, may also be allowed to reduce the efficiency of armor by a point or two.

• Allow PCs to always inflict at least 1 Harm on a (15+), regardless of the victim’s Armor rating. Or alternatively, modify the (15+) result of EiC to say:

“You inflict your weapon’s Harm +1 on your opponent, and avoid counterattacks”.

The above are three quick and easy to implement mods. 

Here are two more things you could hack in. They are a little more involved, but you and your players might appreciate the additional options they offer:

• Add new close combat Advantages, or modify existing ones, to offer Edges which grant +1 Harm, -1 Armor, ignore armor, ignore shield, or similar boons. The +/-armor game is not an aspect of the rules that K:DL focuses a whole lot upon, but attention to such options may be increased in a more historically-minded hack of its ruleset.

• Give each armor type a certain weakness, for smart and resourceful PCs to exploit. For example, soft armor (i.e. fabric-, hide-, or leather-based) is weak against cuts… chainmail and scale mail are weak against stabbing attacks… solid armor (i.e. plates, whether of metal, boiled leather, bone etc.) is weak against crushing weapons…

          Against attacks that exploit the armor’s weakness, its value is reduced to [1], except if it

          was already that, then it goes to [0].