Arkth vs Druken a fatigue based combat

The rouge Arkth meets the city watch Druken in a tavern's back alley.  A struggle between the wanted criminal and the guard ensures.  Druken is better armed, but Arkth has skill and speed to wear him out.

The following is a demo for the first proposal of a fatigue system to track actions per round.  The combat round is not fixed at any length.  Characters pay for actions using their fatigue points.  If the level goes to high they feel fatigued and eventually exhausted.  Every 15 seconds they regain a certain amount of fatigue points according to their recovery rate.  Arkth can reach 80 fatigue before becoming exhausted.  Druken on the other hand is a better conditioned fighter and has 100 fatigue to spend.

The character stats are as follows:

Arkth
Studded Leather (2d4 AR 2) + sword (2d8)
	weapon	armor	shield	total
attack fatigue	7	2	0	9
parry fatigue	5	0	0	5
dodge fatigue	5	4	0	9

Arkth is equiped with the much lighter leather armor which on the other hand provides less protection than Druken's banded mail.  Arkth's sword delivers 2d8 damage while his armor soaks 2d4 damage.

Druken
Banded armor (2d6 AR 3) + sword (2d10) + shield (heater)
	weapon	armor	shield	total
attack fatigue	7	4	5	16
parry fatigue	5	0	5	10
dodge fatigue	7	8	7	22

Druken is equipped with sword and shield which grants him an extra +2 to parry, but makes him heavier when dodging.  His dodge fatigue is way higher than Arkth's.

An attack is resolved by both parties rolling 2d10.  The attacker must better the defenders roll to secure a hit.  If a hit is achieved the attacker's weapon rolls damage against the defenders armor.  Each die is matched in descending order against the opponent.  For example an attack roll of 6, 4 would be matched against a soak roll of 4, 4.  The 6 beats the first 4 and the 4 matches the second 4.  Only the 6 points of damage to through to the character.

Damage is indicated in the damage column.  There are values in brackets "[]" and values in parenthesis "()".  Left values indicate low damage rolls and right values average rolls.  In the first attack Arkth hits Druken.  His sword manages 5 points of damage in a bad roll and 13 in an ok roll.  The efective damage done to Druken is 0 for the bad roll and 6 for the ok roll.  That means that a poor damage roll on Arkth's part causes no real hit point damage to Druken.  It is entirely soaked by Druken's armor and stamina.  On the other hand Arkth is considerably more exposed.  Even a bad roll on Druken's part will cause a wound to Arkth as seen the first time Druken hits Arkth at the 45 second marker.  The low amount of damage represented by 8 points is enough to cause a 2 hit point wound to Arkth.

Please take note that the following combat is heavily favored towards Arkth to extend the combat and show more options.  There are three endings.  One in which Druken dies, on in which he is exhausted and must yield and one in which Arkth is killed by a quick counter strike by Druken.

Combat begins (00:00+) with a surge of attacks from both sides.  Both looking for a quick kill.  Druken tires faster (about 50% quicker) than Arkth, but has a better physical condition.  A series of rounds occur in the first 15 seconds.  Arkth starts off and attacks.  Druken parries with his shield and returns an attack which Arkth is forced to dodge as he has already attacked.  Druken the counterstrikes and Arkth dodges to preserve his right to attack and does so immediately after.  Druken parries with shield and swings his blade.  The GM dictates that 15 seconds have gone by and allows characters to replenish fatigue.

The next 15 seconds (00:15+) go slower.  Arkth measures his opponent and attacks twice.  Druken falls back to parry to recover fatigue.  (Designer note:  It seems parry fatigue is not well set or Druken should have a better recovery rate fitting his physical condition.  Unless overwhelmed by attacks he should get some benefit from this which he doesn't get in this example).  The GM dictates the 15 seconds are over and grants fatigue recovery.

The next 15 seconds (00:30+) are spent taunting each other.  Each one is conserving their strength for a longer fight than expected.  They GM calls the end of the 15 seconds and grants fatigue recovery.

The next 15 seconds (00:45+) see a new surge in aggression.  Druken strikes first and rolls over a 12 maintaining his initiative.  Arkth takes a wound given his lesser armor and now faces a still ongoing Druken.  He manages to dodge Druken's ill placed blow and luckily escapes injury.  He counter attacks and rolls a 14 no maintaing initiative.  Druken is once again hit, but hardly bad enough to kill him.  On a good roll on Arkth's part he would have life threatening 18 points of damage (supposing all prior wounds were as bad).  Otherwise he would be hardly injured as seen in the 0 points of damage to the left.  Druken parries the last attack of that 15 second period and counter strikes missing Arkth.  The GM determines the 15 seconds are over and allows for fatigue recovery.

The next 15 seconds (01:00+) are spent resting by both parties.  Arkth is almost as good as new with only 4 fatigue while Druken is halfway through to being exhausted.  (Note: Once again take note of the observation about better recovery).

The final 15 seconds (01:15+) see three endings:

Option 1: Arkth gets lucky
Arkth goes into an attack frenzy and has such good rolls (14, 12, 15 and 18) that they don't grant Druken an opportunity to counter attack.  Druken takes two wounds in the end that kill him. (Note:  Druken should be entitled to a counter attack due to shield defense.  This was omitted for simplicity as Arkth now has enough fatigue to attack and dodge all the way through the banzai surge).

Option 2: Arkth wears Druken out
Druken simply has bad luck getting back at Arkth.  Arkth attacks and dodge and attack and dodges so much it wears Druken out.  He reaches 100+ fatigue and begins to feel the toll.  He either yields or suffers the ending attacks that wound him and possibly kill him.

Option 3: Arkth tries to wear Druken out but fails
Arkth isn't so lucky in this one.  Druken parries well and returns well set blows befitting his training.  Arkth tries to wear him out, to find a hole in the defenses, but fortune does not shine on him.  Fatigued and on the verge of exhaustion Druken delivers some well placed swings that break through Arkth's leather armor and deliver killing wounds.  Druken supports himself with one hand against the wall, recovering his breath as Arkth's life seeps out.

Action Table
TIME	Damage		Arkth			Druken
	Arkth	Druken	Action	Roll	Fatigue	Action	Roll	Fatigue
		[5, 13] (0, 6)	attack	10	9	parry	7+2 (9)	10	Druken is hit
			dodge	13	9	attack	6	16	Druken returns attack with sword
			dodge	14	9	attack	11	16	Druken strikes back, Arkth dodges
			attack	8	9	parry	8+2 (10)	10	Arkth attacks, Druken parries with shield
			dodge	10	9	attack	10	15	Druken returns attack with sword
			round fatigue		45			67
			+15 seconds		45			67
			recovery		-20			-20
00:00:15			fatigue level		25			47
		[10,26] (0, 12)	attack	17	9	parry	11+2 (13)	10	Druken is hit
			attack	5	9	parry	13	10	Arkth attacks, Druken parries with shieldbut
			round fatigue		18			20
			+15 seconds		43			67
			recovery		-20			-20
00:00:30			fatigue level		23			47
			rest		0			0	Both parties rest
			round fatigue		0			0
			+15 seconds		23			47
			recovery		-20			-20
00:00:45			fatigue level		3			27
	[8, 15] (2, 9)		parry	9	5	attack	13	16	Arkth is hit
			dodge	10	9	attack	7	16	Druken attacks, Arkth parries
		[15,39] (0, 18)	attack	14	9	parry	10+2(12)	10	Druken is hit
			attack	9	9	parry	8+2(10)	10	Arkth attacks, Druken parries with shield
			dodge	8	9	attack	6	16	Druken returns attack with sword
			round fatigue		41			68
			+15 seconds		44			95
			recovery		-20			-20
00:01:00			fatigue level		24			75
			rest		0			0	Both parties rest
			round fatigue		0			0
			+15 seconds		20			75
			recovery		-20			-20
00:01:15			fatigue level		4			55
OPTION 1			attack	14	9	parry	15+2 (17)	10	Arkth attacks, Druken parries with shield
			attack	12	9	parry	12+2(14)	10	Arkth attacks, Druken parries with shield
		[20,52] (0, 24)	attack	15	9	parry	9+2(11)	10	Druken is hit
		[25,65] (0, 30)	attack	18	9	parry	9+2(11)	10	Druken is hit
			round fatigue		36			40
			+15 seconds		40			95
			recovery		-20			-20
00:01:30			fatigue level		20			75
OPTION 2			attack	14	9	parry	15+2 (17)	10	Arkth attacks, Druken parries with shield
			dodge	13	9	attack	6	16	Druken returns attack with sword
			attack	12	9	parry	12+2(14)	10	Arkth attacks, Druken parries with shield
			dodge	13	9	attack	6	16	Druken returns attack with sword
		[20,52] (0, 24)	attack	15	9	parry	9+2(11)	10	Druken is hit
		[25,65] (0, 30)	attack	18	9	parry	9+2(11)	10	Druken is hit
			round fatigue		54			72
			+15 seconds		58			127
			recovery		-20			-20
00:01:30			fatigue level		38			107
OPTION 3			attack	14	9	parry	15+2 (17)	10	Arkth attacks, Druken parries with shield
			dodge	13	9	attack	16	16	Druken returns attack with sword
			attack	12	9	parry	12+2(14)	10	Arkth attacks, Druken parries with shield
	[16, 30] (4, 18)		dodge	13	9	attack	14	16	Arkth is hit
			round fatigue		36			52
			+15 seconds		40			107
			recovery		-20			-20
00:01:30			fatigue level		20			87

Don't make all weapons equal, instead wear the character out

I've been reading some articles recently about the benefits of making all weapon damage equal.  While I do think it is a good idea I also believe it misses the point.  It is a good rule that fixes many min-maxing without requiring a complete rewrite of the combat rules, but it fails to address the underlying problem.  In D&D and d20 in general there is no hard rule that punishes big weapon use or more concretely that benefits smaller weapons.

Enter fatigue.  Fatigue represents the second to second wear the characters suffer during combat.  On a fixed attack per round system like D&D agility and fatigue play no role.  Ok yes, there are some adjustments for initiative and what not, but when Joe Fighter can swing his two handed all day long at three attacks per round there is no counter force to min-maxing on weapons and on armor.

Now if we make the number of attacks per round depend on the level of fatigue a character has, armor and weapon selection come into play on a different level.  Suddenly the unencumbered swordsman can wear out and the kill the heavily armored knight.



The rule can be expanded to encompass magic users and limit super powerful spell from being chain casted.  Dragon breath is limited due to fatigue as well and undead become more fearsome as they never seem to tire.

d20 Combat takes too long!!!

There's a thought that comes to mind when I think about combat length in D&D and d20 games in general.  How long they are.  I'm not talking about three hours to handle and encounter.  I'm talking about all the rounds it might take to bring down a character and all the hits it actually takes before going down.  In most fights you see a lot of parries and sword play.  Little hits until it is over.  Yes maybe some scratches and bruises, but real hits are few and quite terminal.

Right now for me combat doesn't seem so thrilling.  It seems long and excruciating to play.  Matrix like moves an unreachable dream.  What if combat was short lived?  What if it was exceedingly fast?  Swift to the kill.  What if the only outcome wasn't death?  But exhaustion or yielding?  How would that change the role playing aspect of combat?

Here are some points I'm looking for in a combat mechanism:

• Quick resolution.  The outcome has to be settled in a few rounds.
• Low amount of hit points.  That means when you're hit that's it.  You might handle two or maybe three hits, but not much more.
• Improvement in style and defense applied directly to the to hit roll.  Not a mascarade on hit points as stamina and luck.
• Visible benefits for speed an skill.  A skilled unarmored fighter should have some advantage over a fully armored one.  That means fighters wear out, read fatigue.
• Weapons differences should be clearly visible.

I can see that a lot of people reading this will have "optimization" and "min max" come to their minds.  Specially on the last point.  The way I see it in D&D and similar games there is no clear penalty for heavy armor and heavy weapons.  I think there's a key to balance in wearing out the fighters.

Lowering overall hit points also solves a great deal of issues with healing and the derivative issues with clerics.

Thoughts?