2024-06-22 Just Halberds
========================

I haven't thought about Just Halberds in a very long time. Recently I
got questions by email, however. Yay for emails!

Initiative
----------

After a successful attack, the attacker nominates the next person to
go. So, can they nominate themselves again?

I would say: yes, they can pick themselves. It’s a bit like directing
where the camera goes next. And in a Conan movie, Conan does all the
fighting. It’s up to the other people at the table to call for a
change of that’s what they want.

So if the party meets a great archer, can this archer shoot the entire
party to bits?

I think they can! I think about it this way: You're a peasant and
fighting at tiger or a shark or a soldier. It bites and bites and
bites and then you're dead. You didn't stand a chance. What's
different with a soldier? Soldiers can be pleaded with. Beg for your
life, that kind of thing. And for nightmare monsters, the same is
true. Give in to the madness, join the darkness. Talk, beg or grovel
your way out of there.

Perhaps my preference is showing, here. I like combat to be short and
brutal. The solution to strong monsters being deadly is not to make
them less deadly but to offer options outside of combat. Like
pleading, offering food, bargaining, promises, curses.

As a referee, you could probably say: initiative is only required if
you want to continue the fight. If the giant hits you again and again
and again, you can always run away. In my mind, of course, you cannot
run away… Or you could lean into the last part: "If you’re down to
zero hits, you’re down and out." Player characters aren't dead.
They're prisoners, abandoned, naked, imprisoned, whatever ratchets up
the tension at the table.

Spells
------

When I ran it, I did not limit spellcasters in any mechanical way. It
worked a bit like the newer D&D cantrips. The mage can always use fire
bolt just like the fighter can always use their sword. If the spell is
more powerful, like the ones marked with a star in the Example spells
from my campaign section, then those would all need some discussion
and that discussion can happen if and when player characters get
access to the spell. For some example rulings I would suggest to
players:

* aura of fear: no need to limit the spell but acting against the
  victims breaks the spell

* domination: the vengeance later is the limiting factor

* dragon breath, poisonous miasma: these spells destroy locations so
  to use them again, players need to move to the next location for it
  to make sense

* fireball, fire breath: if these affected a large number of
  creatures, the area is "depleted" of fire element and therefore it
  can only be case once per fight; in a running fight, it can be cast
  again when a new location is reached

​#RPG #Just_Halberds ​#Just_Halberds