{"id":614,"date":"2018-07-20T00:14:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T00:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/d-d-5e-review-part-13-combat\/"},"modified":"2024-02-29T01:35:57","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T07:35:57","slug":"d-d-5e-review-part-13-combat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deathcookie.com\/home\/d-d-5e-review-part-13-combat\/","title":{"rendered":"D&D 5E Review Part 13: Combat"},"content":{"rendered":"

An elf swings his delicate bejewelled sword, puncturing a disbelieving dwarf\u2019s heart with a graceful flourish. A paladin screams \u201cDie Infidel Scum\u201d as he murders orcish children for the glory of his bloodthirsty sun god. A bard inspires his companions with an ancient battle song, masturbating frantically the entire time. A reviewer can\u2019t take much more of this \u201cTime-Life Mysteries of the Unknown without the twist\u201d shit that opens every chapter and a whole bunch of sections. Seriously, it\u2019s tedious as fuck.<\/p>\n

Once that shit\u2019s over, they start with the basics, describing the order of combat. My memory may be flawed, but I remember a turn being bigger than a round, like maybe there were 10 rounds to a turn or something. The round was broken up into segments (6 per round, maybe?). In this edition, turns are smaller. The round is the amount of time it takes everyone to act, the turn is an individual character\u2019s action. It\u2019s much simpler, and nobody ever used segments anyway, so it\u2019s probably for the best. Also included in this section are surprise (which includes its own Mysteries of the Unknown intro (\u201cA gnome is happy that the orc complimented his pants, but is suddenly surprised when he remembers HE HAS NO PANTS!\u201d)) which works pretty much how you expect, Initiative (individual initiative that\u2019s rolled once at the beginning of the combat and stays the same the whole time; I realize it\u2019s simpler, but that doesn\u2019t make it not dumb when you think in terms of the story), and a discussion of things you can do outside of your regular action. This part was actually a relief, because some of the earlier rules explanations made it sound like every player\u2019s turn had a dozen different phases. Luckily, that\u2019s not the case. If you get a bonus action, you take it with your normal action. A reaction is kind of like an interrupt in Magic–if X happens, you can do Y. That\u2019s all there is to it.<\/p>\n

Next up is a whole lot of discussion about movement and how much space different sized creatures take up andzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz\u2026.Anyway, they\u2019ve got miniatures to sell, so there\u2019s a page or two of rules that show how handy those little bastards can be, especially if you buy officially branded battle mats and terrain tiles and sharpies to go along with them. Next is a description of common things you can do with your action: Attack, Cast A Spell, Hide, Search, Get Down, Turn Around, Go To Town, Boot Scoot Boogie, etc.<\/p>\n

After that, we finally get to MAKING AN ATTACK! Woo-Hoo! Finally, the simple joy of rolling a die and knowing that you\u2019ve killed something! About damn time! You roll your attack roll and hit if the roll is higher than the opponent\u2019s Armor Class. Since AC has been positive for a few editions now, this works without having to consult charts or THAC0 anything. Damage is based on another die roll, so the actual value of the attack roll doesn\u2019t matter (unless it\u2019s a 1 or a 20). It just has to be higher than the target\u2019s Armor Class. Winning by 1 point is just as good as winning by 99 points. It\u2019s a lot like the U.S. electoral system that way. The rest of the section chose the odd order of \u201cUnseen Attackers and Targets,\u201d then \u201cRanged Attacks,\u201d then \u201cMelee Attacks\u201d (which includes rules for opportunity attacks, two-weapon fighting, grappling, and shoving), which seems to me like the exact opposite of the order that makes sense. Lots of stuff like reach and weapon range are so simplified compared to older versions that they could probably be eliminated if Hasbro didn\u2019t have miniatures to sell.<\/p>\n

After a brief section on Cover (which is once again simplified, though this time not to the point of being an extra step that\u2019s unlikely to make any difference in the outcome), most of the rest of the chapter deals with damage. Most of it\u2019s pretty standard stuff, but there are a few noteworthy changes and additions:<\/p>\n