Combat Stunts

Last session a player went way outside the rules. He wanted his character to leap through the air onto a giant bird's leg, climb up the tarsus, then release a magical belt attached to the beast's limb. It was a cool player action. I want more of stuff like this. So I decided to calm down and figure out how to give the player a chance to roll for it.

1. Break the Stunt Into Parts: Here's what the player asked: "I want to leap from the cart onto the roc's leg and rip the belt off." So I split that one big action into bite-sized actions that didn't feel pixel bitchy: Leap from cart - Grab leg - Climb up leg - Free the belt. So that gave me four steps total.

2. Decide on Roll Count: An RPT GMing axiom says that the more rolls you ask for, the more you increase the chance of failure. And I didn't want to nerf the action. So I decided I wanted only two rolls for a total success.

3. Apply a Timeline: I split the player's stated action into four parts and two rolls. Now I put those parts along a continuum.

In Old School Essentials a round is 10 seconds long. So the easiest place to start a timeline is by asking, "Can the whole stunt can take place in a single round, or would it make more sense to make each part one round?" I decided no to both, making a decision a bit harder. But at least now I've got boundaries to help: two to four rounds. Two rounds felt right. So I went with that.

4. Explain My Thinking: Now I paused the game to explain my thinking to the group and asked for feedback. Being transparent lets players understand how you're approaching action resolution to create a precedent for future stunt attempts. And feedback gives everyone a chance to improve the approach.

So How'd It Go? Picture a dwarf standing atop a bucking cart with horses rearing and thrashing about as a massive bird stretches out a claw bigger than a Buick to attack from the sky.

Bartram's strong legs catapulted him into the air (automatic success) and colliding with the beast's leg. The dwarf managed to keep his grip and climb up the dry, leathery claw skin (successful STR check). End of turn, and everyone was cheering.

Next round, Bartram climbed up to reach the feathered upper leg, but he could not hold on (failed roll) and he fell to the ground (5 damage, ouch).