The D&D system is abstract. It needed tinkering. But it is very good a representing a certain kind of combat- men at arms vs men at arms. Armored warriors fighting one another is handled very well in the core rules. The fighters sup and the BR rules add to that. The real defect in the system is the fight between lightly armored rouge types and heavily armored warrior types. For a while this just kind of irritated me, but thieves in my campaigns have tended to be skulkers, I never devoted myself to finding a solution.
With the advent of the Brechts and their preference for light armor and weapons I had to deal with or never satisfy myself with Brecht-Anurian combat. Now I felt forced to resolve the problem. Eventually I settled on a two level approach.
1) I stole the Italian and Spanish fightingn styles from the renaisance era sup (the name of which eludes me just now) and re-named the Brecht fight style and Berghagen fighting style. Its a type of weapon specialization.
2) A revised armor class system that produces all the familiar armor classes (warrior in plate, w/shield=2, thief in leather=8, mage=10) but was based on a combination of class and armor type. My armor class calculation goes like this:
Start at 10, just like the core rules.
The following AC table supercedes the standard one:
Armor Class
None 10
Leather, Padded, Hide, Studded 9
Ring, Scale, Splint 8
Brigandine, Chain, Banded, Plate 7
Dwarven Plate 6
A shield increases AC by 1
Character AC Class modifier
Wizard 0
Rouge -1
Bard -2 (and a few Rouge kits as well as some Priest types)
Priest -3
Warrior -4
All monsters use their Monsterous Manual AC's
According to this system:
a mage with no armor is AC 10
a thief in leather is AC 8
a warrior in plate mail and shield is AC 2
however,
a warrior with no armor is AC 6
a bard in chain is AC 5
a warrior with no armor parrying with a fireplace poker has AC 4
Furthermore, armors absorb some damage:
| Armour | Slash | Pierce | Bludgeoning |
| Banded Mail | 3 hp | 1 hp | 1 hp |
| Brigandine | 2 hp | 1 hp | 0 hp |
| Chain Mail | 3 hp | 1 hp | 0 hp |
| Hide Armour | 2 hp | 1 hp | 1 hp |
| Leather Armour | 1 hp | 0 hp | 1 hp |
| Padded Armour | 0 hp | 0 hp | 0 hp |
| Plate Armour | 3 hp | 3 hp | 2 hp |
| Ring Mail | 1 hp | 1 hp | 0 hp |
| Scale Mail | 1 hp | 1 hp | 0 hp |
| Splint Mail | 2 hp | 1 hp | 1 hp |
| Studded Leather | 2 hp | 1 hp | 0 hp |
Brecht Fighting Style: (replaces One-Handed Style for those trained in it)
Costs one proficency slot. Character must have rapier or saber proficeny. Brecht Style grants one AC benefit per level of proficeny. One may be taken upon starting out. Additional slots can be purchased once per three levels; eg. a second at 3rd, a third at 6th level &c. These bonuses rely on evasion and movement and hence are allowable only when the normal dex bonus is. The character must be fighting with a saber, rapier, dagger, or be unarmed to get this benefit. Available for fighters, rouges, and some priests (Nesirie, Sera, Eloéle).
Berghagen Fighting Style: (replaces Sword and Shield Style)
Costs two proficency slots. Character must have rapier proficency. The Berghagen Style teaches the swordsman to mirror his opponent's posture and guard, making it impossible to attack without first shifting position or attacking the defender's blade. Therefore, a Berghagen Style swordsman cannot be attacked with a small or medium weapon of weight 4 or less in my revised weight system, in any round in which he has the initiative. Also, using Berghagen Style gives the practitioner one free parry. In order to parry some type of protection must be employed for the left (off) hand. In addition to a buckler, a second weapon (of smaller size) a leather glove, cloak, or floppy felt hat are all common. If an attack hits the character, they roll to hit against the attacker's AC. If successful, the attack was parried and no damage is taken. If not successful, normal damage is taken. Available for fighters, rouges, and some priests (Nesirie, Sera, Eloéle).
For characters with both Brecht and Berghagen Styles: Only one can be employed at once. This must be declared before initiatve is rolled. If no mention is made, the previous round's style is still in effect, or on the first round, Brecht Style is assumed.
When using a weapon with a speed of 4 (or 5 on horseback) or less, a critical hit allows a second free attack, rolled normally.
On a fumble against an opponant with a rapier, a fumble may mean a broken blade. Roll a saving throw vs crushing blow (succedes on a seven or above) failure indicates a broken blade, now possessing the characteristics of a dagger.
***
This system is abstract. But it satisfies my demands for a sense of who should beat whom in combat, and how often. I also demand Endurance proficency checks after 15 rounds of combat (for a rested character), or 20 rounds for characters with the Endrance proficency. PC's without the prof check at -5, as always. Failure gives you a -2 for all rolls. The exaustion rules come into effect here. Dwarves have staying power.
Whether its a judo competition, boxing, what have you, scoring is somewhat abstract. What counts is not the realism of the system, but the reasonability of the results.
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