Oooh! That's gonna leave a mark!

The topic for today's article comes directly from Gary Gygax himself, found in the pages of the original Dungeon Masters Guide. Although dismissed by some in the Old School Renaissance as apocrypha, much of the material in the DMG originated in articles written for the original Dungeons & Dragons game.

"If any creature reaches a state of -6 or greater negative points before being revived, this could indicate scarring or the loss of some member, if you so choose. For example, a character struck by a fireball and then treated when at -9 might have horrible scar tissue on exposed areas of flesh - hands, arms, neck, face." - AD&D DMG p.82*

* The above text is only applied in games using the -10 hit point threshold. Some games allow a negative hit point threshold up to the dying character's Constitution score, in which case the scarring will apply at negative half the CON score of the character.

For the purposes of this article, the following rule used is.. "A character remains alive (although bleeding to death at the rate of 1 hp/round if no assistance is rendered) until the character reaches negative hit points equal to the character’s level." Swords & Wizardry Complete, p.43.

Any time a character falls into negative hit points, but does not die, they may be subject to scarring, or dismemberment. In this case dismemberment is minor so as not to cripple, or whittle away at the character. Some DMs might apply more severe penalties, but this is not recommended.

Here, in our home campaign, we use the following 2d6 table for hit location (assuming that the target is humanoid):

    2          Head (Upper Portion)

  3-4         Right Leg

    5          Right Arm

    6          Upper Torso

    7          Lower Torso

    8          Upper Torso

    9          Left Arm

10-11       Left Leg

  12          Head (Lower Portion)

The use of 2d6 was chosen because it reflects set percentages, instead of a flat 1 in 6, or what have you. There are special 1d12's that have body locations printed on them, but again that just makes everything a straight 1 in 12 chance of being struck. Each DM is encouraged to use their own preferred system.

Effects of Scarring:

• Depending on hit location, the character may be missing a piece of finger, toe, ear, nose, patch of hair, teeth, etc.
• The character might suffer scarring appropriate to the type of damage that drove them into negative hit points.
• The character might have a visible limp, favor a particular body part, etc, especially when the weather is cold, or about to change.
• The character may end up with an appropriate nickname, such as Ninefinger, One-Ear, Scarface, the Gimp, Flamekissed, etc. Be creative.

In our home campaign, Antaria: The Lion, The Bear, and The Dragon, we only use these rules for role-playing purposes, to add verisimilitude to the ongoing story of the adventure. Players often enjoy them because they help distinguish their characters, making them that much more memorable.

Optional Rules: Offensive / Defensive Stances

Basic combat is a give and take economy. For each action, there is a reaction, for each risk taken, there is a corresponding cost. The standard combat rules give us how the "average" combat round goes, where risks and strategies are balanced. But from time to time, players (and monsters) will attempt to take greater risks than usual as they go on the offensive, or perhaps choose to go on the defensive if things start to go sideways.

In order for a character to engage in one of these combat options, they must declare they are doing so before Initiative is decided for the round. If the enemy gets to act first, any penalties or bonuses that would apply to the character are applied at that time, even if they have not yet acted.

Here are several typical "Combat Stances" that may be performed:

• Flailing Wildly - The character is desperately overextending themselves and being reckless in an attempt to strike their opponent. (+2 to hit, -1 damage, AC suffers by 1, no shield use for defense this round.)
• Powerful Attack - The character forgoes defense to make a more successful and telling attack (+1 to hit, +1 damage, AC suffers by 2.)
• Fighting Defensively - The character attempts to protect themselves at the expense of offense. (-1 to hit, AC improves by 1.)
• Total Defense - The character goes all out defense, forgoing attack opportunities. (AC improves by 2, no attacks this round.)

If the DM so wishes, they may have monsters engage in combat stances according to the action, or they may roll randomly to see what the monster is doing. It is suggested that the DM use these options sparingly, choosing the appropriate maneuver that best suits the situation and temperament of the combatant.

Roll 1d6:

1. Flailing Wildly
2. Powerful Attack
3. Normal Attack
4. Normal Attack
5. Fighting Defensively
6. Total Defense

We would be very interested in other people's ideas on this, so please feel free ask questions and discuss below.

Optional Rules: Shield Wall!

Even the hot blood of the bravest on the battlefield grows cold in the daunting face of a shield wall. A barrier of wood and iron that makes assault upon those behind it difficult, and opens an attacker to a whole new level of danger. A small and determined group of defenders can successfully hold off a larger number of attackers using this simple technique.

Conditions For Forming A Shield Wall:

• A shield wall must have no less than three participants, unless two participants are in a tight area that offers a solid defense on each side (i.e. corridor, doorway, etc.)
• Each participant must be using a normal, heavy, or tower sized shield. Bucklers can not be used to form a shield wall.
• Only fighters, paladins, and clerics (but not druids) have the necessary training to perform a shield wall.
• Any character that can use a shield, and has spent time training alongside those with experience, can learn to participate in a shield wall.
• A spell caster that has trained with companions may use a Shield spell to participate in a shield wall, and acts as a tower shield.

Advantages of a Shield Wall:

• The armor class of those participating improves by 2, above and beyond what their shield already provides.
• Participants are 50% immune to normal missile fire (1 in 2) when using normal shields.
• Participants are 75% immune to normal missile fire (3 in 4) when using heavy and tower shields.
• Magic Missile spells are subject to the above immunity rules, even if set to "autohit".
• Enemy combatants can not directly attack those standing behind the protection of the shield bearers.
• Enemy combatants that rush a shield wall automatically provoke a free attack by one (possibly two) participants of the shield wall.
• Participants gain a +2d6 to their Unarmed Attack roll when attacking and defending. Losing to an Unarmed Attack means that a hole has been made in the shield wall that round.

Disadvantages of a Shield Wall:

• Defenders may only use thrusting weapons, or one-handed striking/chopping weapons, no daggers, thrown, or two-handed weapons.
• Those standing behind a shield wall may only use weapons with reach, like spears, polearms, etc.
• a breach/hole must be made in the shield wall to allow a spell caster to send a spell through, unless the spell uses an indirect method of attack, i.e. Flame Strike, Call Lightning, etc.
• The shield wall is limited by the speed of the slowest participant.
• A shield wall loses all benefits when attempting to move into an area that does not allow the participants to maintain formation.

How to Breach a Shield Wall:

• In order to breach a shield wall, an attacker must make a successful Unarmed Attack (Overbearing) against a participant. The defender gets a +2d6 to their roll.
• Any successful attack that kills, stuns, or otherwise incapacitates a shield bearer opens a hole for that round, until someone else can step in, or the wall reforms. A wall can not reform with less than three shield bearers.
• An attacker attempting to breach the wall, by overbearing, is subject to a free attack by one (possibly two) defenders.
• Many spells are capable of opening a breach, subject to the DM's discretion.

(These rules are written to be compatible with Swords& Wizardry Complete, but may be suitable for use with other OSR-based systems.)