Fudging Blades

"Fudging Blades: Swashbuckling Combat for Fudge!" (from SpiritMusketeer's Blog) is a simple swashbuckling combat system for Fudge by Thijs Krijger and Jay Shaffstall with help from François Letarte. It lacks the detail of simulationist fencing rules, but it appears to be relatively fast-paced. It looks promising.

[This article has been cross-posted here in Creative Reckoning.]

Fudging the Swashbuckling in Non-Fudge Games

The combat of Dungeons & Dragons is considered by some to be rather too two-dimensional for the needs of swashbuckling action. Sure, one can role-play the combat (it's always better that way regardless of the system), but if the results still come down to "roll to hit, hit, roll damage" or "roll to hit, miss" no matter what incredible stunts or brilliant tactics you perform, it can seem unrewarding and even boring. Swashbuckling should never be boring.

Tunnels & Trolls solved this problem with the attribute-based "saving roll," which enabled player-characters not only to avoid certain death in the manner of the D&D saving throw, but to take risky moves to gain an advantage in a fight or perform other feats. This game mechanic depends on dynamic attribute ratings that have no upper limit, and it would be simpler just to play T&T than adapt its rules to a game such as D&D. This is actually an excellent idea for anyone who wants to play a swashbuckling role-playing game. Just strip out the fantasy elements (or keep some if you want to play a fantasy swashbuckling game in the spirit of, say, the Sinbad movies) and T&T will probably serve you well in conveying that cinematic swashbuckling action.

D&D played as written tends to reward caution, not derring-do. This doesn't prevent us from tinkering with it, though, in the hopes of transforming it into a game worthy of the exploits of Errol Flynn. One of my untested ideas is simply to import the Fudge rules of action resolution and apply them to the standard D&D attributes. Convert the attributes to the Fudge trait ladder, then whenever a player character wants to try something crazy, the referee determines how difficult it is and the player rolls four Fudge dice per the standard rules for an unopposed roll. If the result is equal to or greater than the difficulty level, then the player character accomplishes the stunt. When an attack is made, revert to the D&D rules, modified by a suitable bonus or penalty depending on whether the stunt succeeds or fails (if appropriate). The conversion I use for the 3-18 range is as follows:

18	Superb
16-17	Great
13-15	Good
9-12	Fair
6-8	Mediocre
4-5	Poor
3	Terrible

For those who don't like the idea of inflating the importance of the existing attributes, a seventh attribute (called "swashbuckling" perhaps) could be added. It could be generated in the same manner as the usual attributes (3d6, 4d6 drop lowest die, or whatever), converted to the Fudge trait ladder, and used as above.

I have yet to playtest any of this, so use at your own risk...

The Swashbuckling Advantage Redux

Last year, I posted "The Swashbuckling Advantage" in Applied Phantasticality. Here it is again with additional thoughts appended:

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Via a circuitous route (looking up the Yaquinto war game Swashbuckler on boardgamegeek.com, seeing a photograph of a diorama inspired by the game, visiting the Web site of the diorama builder, and being referred to the Web site of Eureka Miniatures), I discovered a remarkable miniature war game called ...And One for All by Greg Hallam (available here as a free download and with illustrated examples of play). Its focus is the combat of swashbuckling movies both in style and substance. By "substance" I mean the gameplay itself is as freewheeling as the swashbuckling antics the game simulates. Anything you can think of doing in terms of interacting with your environment is permissible and actually improves your odds in combat. Neither time nor movement rates are measured in this game. The more actions you take, the better you fare, but the sooner you risk losing the initiative and relinquishing your turn. It might be the best interpretation of the genre ever designed.

I can't wait to try playing the game in the way it was intended, but I would naturally like to use it for other situations: Wild West brawls, for instance. In fact, this would work well with brawls in Boot Hill, spy action in Top Secret, martial arts in your favorite martial arts game, duels on Tékumel (Empire of the Petal Throne et al), or even the rough and bloody informal conflict in Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, I'd say it's especially appropriate for D&D, where combat is far more regimented and low level player characters are scarcely able to hit anything. Even if it isn't optimal where spellcasting and ranged weapons are present, it would be a great boon for resolving mêlée combat more quickly and with more interesting results. It also emphasizes player skill, which is generally considered a desirable quality for a game to have as far as the Old School Renaissance is concerned.

One minor modification would need to be made if it were to be used in conjunction with D&D. Each character would need to be assigned a Rating from one to four. I would suggest the following change to rule 3B:

4       High level characters; high HD monsters
3       Medium level characters; medium HD monsters
2       Low level characters; low HD monsters
1       0 level characters; less than 1 HD monsters

Whether I adapt ...And One for All for use in my role-playing games or not, I intend to play it as a traditional miniature war game, too. I might also play it with LEGO Minifigures and a LEGO diorama. (Why not?)

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To use ...And One for All with Fudge, consider this change to rule 3B:

4       Characters with Great or Superb combat skills
3       Characters with Good combat skills
2       Characters with Fair combat skills
1       Characters with Mediocre or worse combat skills