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Chapter 4: Heroic Adventures

“Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!” – The Wizard, in Conan the Barbarian (John Milius)

Exploding D20s

When making throws, unmodified 20s do not automatically succeed. Instead, when a character who throws an unmodified (natural) 20, the d20 explodes: The character immediately rolls another 1d20 and adds the new result to 20. Subsequent rolls of 20 continue to explode without limit.

EXAMPLE: A peasant archer with a base attack throw of 11+ fires an arrow at Marcus, a high-level fighter in magical armor with an AC of 15. The archer needs to throw an (11+15) 26+ to hit the fighter. He rolls a natural 20. He immediately rolls 1d20; the result is a 7. The peasant has therefore rolled a (20 + 7) 27 against Marcus, which is a hit. Had the peasant’s second d20 roll have been a 3, the peasant’s result would have been a (20 + 3) 23, and he’d have missed. Had the peasant’s second d20 roll have been an 18, result would have been a (20 + 18) 38 and the peasant would have dealt a critical hit (see below).

Note: In the ACKS core rules, an unmodified roll of 20 always succeeds on a throw, which guarantees that every characters has at least a 5% chance to hit any foe or succeed at any task.
While admirably helpful to low-level characters, it actually penalizes characters with a high AC who fight weak opponents. For instance, for every 20 peasant archers that fire an arrow, one will hit the target, regardless of the target’s range, armor, or Dexterity.

Critical Hits

If the result of an attacker’s attack throw exceeds its target value by 10 or more, the attacker has dealt a critical hit to its target. When a critical hit is dealt, the target suffers double damage and must make an immediate saving throw v. Paralysis. If the save fails, the target suffers a critical effect in addition to double damage. The target’s saving throw should be modified by 4 points per category of size difference between the attacker and the target, as per ACKS p. 110.

The attacker determines the critical effect dealt by rolling 1d10 on the appropriate column on the Critical Effects table. For purposes of the Critical Effects table, “characters” are combatants equipped with arms and armor, while “monsters” are combatants relying on natural weapons and toughness.

Brawling: After seeing the result rolled on the Critical Effects table, the attacker may opt to inflict a Brawling critical effect in lieu of the effect rolled. For instance, an attacker who fears being carried off by a flying creature could substitute a Brawling result for a Clamber result.

Combat Trickery: After seeing the result rolled on the Critical Effects table, an attacker with Combat Trickery proficiency may substitute the special maneuver with which he has proficiency in lieu of the effect rolled. For instance, an attacker with Combat Trickery (Disarm) who deals a Force Back critical hit can inflict a Disarm instead.

Shields May Be Splintered: If the target of a critical effect is equipped with a shield, he may choose to substitute a Damage Shield result in lieu of a Damage Armor, Force Back, Injure Hide, Impair Attack, Impair Move, Knockdown, or Stun effect dealt to him. This represents the character desperately absorbing the blow on his shield.

Critical Effects

Attacker’s Choice: The attacker may choose any desired critical effect from the appropriate column (Character or Monster).

Brawling: The target suffers an additional 1d4 damage from a strike from the attacker’s gauntlet, pommel, or shield rim. If the attacker has no metal weapons, the damage is nonlethal, but otherwise the brawling damage can be lethal or nonlethal, at his discretion.

Damage Armor: The target’s armor is damaged, reducing its effectiveness by 1 point. Armor that loses all effectiveness is ruined. Damaged armor can be repaired at a cost of 10gp per point of effectiveness. Magic armor cannot be damaged except by magic weapons or monsters of 5 HD or more.

Damage Shield: The target’s shield is damaged, reducing its effectiveness by 1. If the shield is non-magical, this will destroy it. Damaged shields can be repaired at a cost of 10gp per point of effectiveness. Magic shields cannot be damaged except by magic weapons or monsters of 5 HD or more.

Disarm: The target is disarmed of its weapon (as the special maneuver). The weapon drops to a point chosen by the attacker who dealt the critical hit, up to 5’ distant from the target.

Fatigued: The target is wearied by the flurry of blows. The target suffers a -1 penalty to attack throws and damage throws until it rests. If additional fatigue effects are rolled, the effects are cumulative.

Force Back: The target is forced back (as the special number). It must withdraw a number of feet equal to the attacker’s damage roll. If this would push the opponent into a wall or obstacle, the opponent is knocked down, and takes 1d6 points of damage per 10’ he has traveled.

Knockdown: The target is immediately knocked down (as the special maneuver). Once prone, the creature can move, but only to crawl at a movement rate of 5’, to take an action in lieu of moving, or to end the condition by using an action in lieu of moving to stand up. If engaged, the prone creature remains subject to the movement restrictions of being engaged, so it can only crawl if using defensive movement, and cannot stand up in lieu of moving. The prone creature can attack, but suffers a -4 penalty on its attack throws. Alternatively the prone creature can stand up in lieu of attacking. The prone creature can be backstabbed by creatures capable of doing so. Attack throws against the prone creatures gain a +2 bonus, or a +4 bonus if the attacker backstabs the stunned creature. The conditions is ended immediately when the creature stands up.

Impair Attack: One of the target’s natural attacks (determined randomly) is somehow impaired – muscles sprained, claws ripped, etc. The target suffers a -4 to attack throws with the impaired natural attack until it rests.

Impair Move: The movement rate of the target’s primary movement is reduced by 25% or 30’ (whichever is less) until the target rests. This represents a leg being wrenched, an ankle twisted, and so on.

Injure Hide: The target’s hide is bruised, cut, or broken open such that its AC is reduced by 1 until it rests.

Stun: The target is stunned until the end of its next initiative. A stunned creature cannot attack, cast spells, or move. It gains no benefit to its AC from its shield (if any), and can be ambushed or backstabbed by creatures capable of doing so. All attack throws against stunned creatures gain a +2 bonus, or a +4 bonus if the attacker ambushes or backstabs the stunned creature.

Sunder Weapon: The target’s weapon is sundered (as the special maneuver). If the target’s weapon is a non-magical spear, staff, or pole arm, it shatters into splinters when sundered, dealing an additional 1d4 nonlethal damage to the target. Swords cannot be sundered by non-metal weapons or natural attacks by creatures of less than 5 HD. Magic weapons cannot be sundered except by other magic weapons or monsters of 5 HD or more.

Wrestle/Clamber: The results of this critical effect depend on the difference in size between the attacker and target. If the target is the same size category or smaller than the attacker, the attacker has grabbed the target in a wrestling hold (as the special maneuver). If the target is one or more size categories larger than the attacker, the attacker has clambered on top of or mounted the target (as the special maneuver, see below).

Special Maneuvers

Clamber

Instead of making a melee attack, a combatant may attempt to clamber on top of a creature that is one or more size categories larger than him. To clamber onto a creature, a combatant must succeed on a melee attack throw with a -4 penalty. If the combatant is a thief or other class with the ability to Climb Walls, the -4 penalty may be waived if the character makes a successful proficiency throw.

The creature must then make a saving throw versus Paralysis. The creature suffers a -2 penalty to its saving throw if of huge size, -4 if of gigantic size, and -6 if of colossal size. If the creature succeeds on its saving throw, it has shrugged off the combatant’s attempt. If it fails, the combatant has clambered onto the creature, and is now mounted on its back, perched on its shoulders, etc.

A clambering combatant gains a +4 attack bonus against the creature he has clambered onto. If capable of backstabbing, the clambering combatant may do so, gaining a +6 attack bonus and extra damage. A clambering combatant also gains a measure of protection against the creature’s own attacks. If the creature lack arms, tails, or other appendages capable of reaching its own back, it may not directly attack the clambering combatant. Even if the creature does have such appendages, it attacks the clambering combatant with a -4 penalty to attack throws.

In lieu of attacking, a creature with one or more combatants clambering on it may attempt to unseat the clambering combatants by bucking, rearing, colliding with walls, and similar tactics. This forces every combatant clambering on the creature to make a saving throw v. Paralysis. Combatants who succeed on the saving throw continue clambering on the creature. Combatants who fail the saving throw slip off the creature. If the creature is more than 10’ tall at the shoulder, or is flying, the unseated combatants will suffer falling damage (1d6 points of damage per 10’ fallen).

EXAMPLE: Viktir, a 9th level thief (attack throw 6+), is fighting a purple worm (AC 3). On his initiative, he attempts to clamber onto the worm. Normally he would incur a -4 penalty to his attack throw for attempting a clamber, but Viktir makes a proficiency throw against Climb Walls and avoids this penalty. He needs a (6+3) 9+ to succeed in his clamber; his roll is an 11, so he succeeds. Now the purple worm may make a saving throw v. Paralysis to shrug him off. As a 15 HD monster, it needs a 6+, but it suffers a -6 penalty due to its colossal size. It only rolls a 3, so Viktir has clambered onto the purple worm! The purple worm’s initiative is next. The Judge rules that the purple worm can only reach its own back with its stinger, but not with its bite. Rather than risk missing, he decides that the purple worm will attempt to unseat Viktir by rotating itself violently back and forth. Viktir must make a saving throw v. Paralysis. As a 9th level thief, Viktir needs 9+; he rolls a 17 and succeeds easily.

In the next combat round, Viktir attacks the purple worm with his sword (1d6). Since he is clambering, the attack counts as backstabbing. He gains a +6 attack bonus, so he hits on (6+3-6) 3+. He rolls a 17 and lands a critical hit. As a 9th level thief, his backstab deals quadruple damage, increased to quintuple damage because he landed a critical hit, so Viktir deals 5d6 points of damage to the worm. Even better, the worm fails its saving throw against the critical hit. Viktir rolls a 7 on the Critical Hit table, an “Impair Attack” result; the Judge rules that Viktir has sliced off the purple worm’s stinger tip, imposing a -4 penalty to its attacks with that natural weapon. The party’s grizzled old loremaster complains about thieves being too powerful these days.

Sweeping Attack

A combatant may perform a sweeping attack in order to simultaneously attack one or more engaged opponents, up to his number of eligible cleaves. The combatant must be using a medium or large weapon (such as a battle axe, sword, or two-handed sword) or be at least one size category larger than all his engaged opponents, in order to perform a sweeping attack. Each opponent targeted by the sweeping attack may immediately withdraw 5’ away from the attacking combatant if desired. The attacking combatant may then make one attack throw at a -4 penalty against each opponent who did not withdraw. If all of the opponents withdraw from or are slain by the sweeping attack, the combatant may either (i) immediately advance 5’ and cleave or (ii) conduct a fighting withdrawal himself. When performing a sweeping attack and any subsequent cleaves, a combatant’s total number of attacks may never exceed the usual maximum (e.g. his attack routine plus his number of cleave attacks by level).

EXAMPLE: Athelstan, a 6th level fighter with a two-handed sword, finds himself surrounded by six orcs. He declares a sweeping attack against all six orcs. Choosing discretion over valor, four of the orcs withdraw 5’, but two boldly stand their ground. Athelstan immediately makes an attack throw against the two orcs, suffering a -4 penalty. He hits and slays both orcs. Athelstan can now choose to advance 5’ and cleave against the remaining orcs, or perform a fighting withdrawal. He chooses the latter, slipping around the corner to where his friends have formed up.

Thievery

“I've got kids that enjoy stealing. I've got kids that don't think about stealing one way or the other, and I've got kids that just tolerate stealing because they know they've got nothing else to do. But nobody--and I mean nobody has ever been hungry for it like this boy. If he had a bloody gash across his throat and a physiker was trying to sew it up, Lamora would steal the needle and thread and die laughing. He...steals too much.” – The Thiefmaker in The Lies of Lock Lamora (S. Lynch)

From the Gray Mouser to Cugel the Clever to Locke Lamora, one of the most common archetypes in heroic fantasy is the thief. Thieves in heroic fantasy are bold risk-takers who infiltrate impenetrable fortresses, steal the crown jewels, and kidnap the princess on the way out. Thieves in ACKS and other d20 retro-clones tend to be much less bold, because they are harshly penalized for failure, and fail quite often. For instance, a thief in ACKS a thief may only try to pick a particular lock, or find and remove a particular trap, once. If he fails, he may not try the same lock or trap again until he reaches a higher experience level. In order to allow thieves (and related classes) to better engage in heroic adventures, use the following rules.

Dexterity Modifier and Thievery

Adroit and nimble thieves are more likely to succeed than their less-gifted brethren. When a character makes a proficiency throw to open locks, pick pockets, find traps, remove traps, hide in shadows, move silently, or climb walls, apply his DEX modifier to the roll. The bonuses do not apply to hijinks.

Encumberance and Thievery

Thieves, and other classes which use thief skills, benefit from being light on their feet. If the character’s encumbrance is 5 stones or less, he gains a +2 bonus on proficiency throws to climb walls, hide in shadows, and move silently. If the character’s encumbrance is 2 stones or less, the bonus is increased to +4. The bonuses do not apply to hijinks.

Equipment for Thieves

The following new items, found in the Equipment section are of benefit to thieves and related classes: adventurer’s harness, ear trumpet, padded shoes, thieves’ garb, thieves’ tools companion kit, superior thieves’ tools, and masterwork thieves’ tools.

Revised Thief Skills

Open Locks: Picking a lock requires one turn and a successful proficiency throw. Characters can pick locks in one round instead of one turn at a -10 penalty. (Characters with Lockpicking proficiency can pick locks in one round at a -4 penalty.) The thief may try again if the throw fails. However, if the thief ever fails the throw by 10 or more, or with a natural 1, he immediately breaks his thieves' tools. Broken thieves’ tools are useless.

Find Traps: Finding a trap requires one turn (per 10 square feet searched) and a successful proficiency throw. Characters can find traps in one round instead of one turn at a -10 penalty. (Characters with Trap Finding proficiency can find traps in one round at a -4 penalty.) The thief may try again if the throw fails. If the thief ever fails the throw by 4 or less, he suspects a trap exists (if there actually is one), but does not know its exact nature. If the thief ever fails the throw by 10 or more, or with a natural 1, he has fumbled the search. If a trap exists, he sets it off. If no trap exists, he believes one does, but he thinks he does not know its exact nature.

Remove Traps: A thief may only remove a trap he has found, not one he just suspects to exist. Disarming a trap requires one turn and a successful proficiency throw. Characters can disarm traps in one round instead of one turn at a -10 penalty. The thief may try again if he fails to disarm a trap. However, if a thief fails a disarming throw by 10 or more, or with a roll of a natural 1, he sets off the trap.

Pick Pockets: A thief can try to suddenly grab a worn item without regard to being noticed – doing so grants a +4 bonus to the proficiency throw, but the intended victim automatically notices regardless of whether it succeeds or not. The item may not be an item in the target’s hand (that is a disarm special maneuver).

Attacks and Armor Penetration of Large Monsters

All monsters larger than men suffer an attack throw penalty based on their size category. This penalty applies to all attacks by the monster. In exchange, the monster gains a commensurate amount of armor penetration. Armor penetration allows a monster to ignore a number of points of the target’s Armor Class from armor, shields, magical adjustments to armor and shields, Weapon & Shield proficiency, magical items "of armor", and spells that create magical armor or shields or render the subject invulnerable. However, armor penetration cannot ignore Armor Class from DEX, Graceful Fighting ability, Swashbuckling proficiency, magical items and spells "of protection", and spells that improve AC through luck, speed, or divine favor.

In most cases, a monster will be attacking a foe with more armor than its armor penetration, and the attack throw penalty and armor penetration will cancel each other out. However, when a target is wearing less armor than the monster’s armor penetration, it will have a relatively harder time hitting the target. This is much to the benefit of heroic fantasy archetypes such as barbarians in loincloths, bladedancers in chainmail bikinis, and thieves in leather armor.

EXAMPLE: An ogre, a large creature with an attack throw of 6+, is fighting a fighter and a thief. In the first round, it attacks the fighter. The fighter is wearing plate armor (AC 6). The ogre suffers a -2 penalty to its attack throw, but it ignores 2 points of armor. Its target value to hit the fighter is (6+2+6-2) 12+. In the second round, the ogre attacks the thief. The thief is wearing no armor but has DEX 18, so he has AC 3. The ogre suffers a -2 penalty to its attack throw because of its size. It could ignore 2 points of armor, but the thief is not wearing any. The ogre’s target value to hit the thief is (6+2+3) 11+.

Note that if this rule were not applied, the ogre’s target value to hit the fighter would still be (6+6) 12+, but the ogre’s target value to hit the thief would only be (6+3) 9+. Nimble, lightly armored characters benefit from this rule.

Note: Since it alters a core mechanic of ACKS, the Attacks and Armor Penetration of Large Monsters rule deserves a bit of explanation. In ACKS and other D20-based fantasy RPGs, armor protects its wearer by making him harder to successfully attack. This rule is much-maligned, largely by those who believe armor “shouldn’t make you harder to hit”. But historically, that’s just what armor did. Armor worked. In a careful survey, From Sumer to Ancient Rome reviewed the weapons available to ancient warriors and found they could generate 70-100 joules of kinetic energy, while to penetrate 2mm of bronze on leather took in excess of 120+ joules! Nor would “bludgeon force still kill"—even a mighty 110-joule blow from a mace would have its kinetic energy distributed by the armor, such that it is reduced to the equivalent of a 15-joule blow. In other words, attacks that struck armor often bounced off with little harm done; successful attacks were those that struck gaps in the armor. ACKS’s Armor Class is a reasonable and playable approximation of this reality.

What about when the combatants are not humans producing 70-100 joules, but instead are elephants, ogres, dragons, or other monsters capable of delivering far more kinetic energy? In ACKS, bigger monsters have higher Hit Dice; and monsters with higher Hit Dice have better attack throws. An ogre, with 4 HD, has an attack throw of 6+; it strikes a knight in chainmail (AC 4) as easily as a 1st level fighter (attack throw 10+) strikes an unarmored foe (AC 0). Since an ogre and a fighter probably have similar dexterity and combat training, the difference in accuracy obviously reflects the ogre’s much greater strength. An ogre can cleave through chainmail like a child snapping twigs, so the target is effectively “unarmored” against its blows. Conversely, since a fighter’s blows will be stopped by chainmail, he needs to aim for the neck, armpits, thighs, and other unarmored areas, and thus has a harder time hitting. Armor Class remains a reasonable and playable approximation of the reality of the game world.

Or does it? After all, the same ogre attacking an unarmored target (AC 0) will hit the unarmored target on a 6+ to the fighter’s 10+. In this case, it can’t be that the ogre’s strength is allowing it to cleave through armor – the target isn’t wearing any! Thus, we have a conundrum: Confront an ogre with an armored knight and his fighting skills seem to rely on brute force to bash through armor. Put an ogre against a target with no armor, and the ogre suddenly becomes a graceful ballerina of death.

The conundrum gets worse when factors other than armor begin to intrude on Armor Class, such as DEX modifier, Swashbuckling proficiency or Graceful Fighting ability. It is historically plausible that an elephant (attack throw 3+) could trample a plate-armored knight (AC 7) as easily as a knight (attack throw 10+) can trample a peasant (AC 0). But it is rather implausible that the elephant could trample a highly mobile skirmisher (AC 5 due to DEX 18 and Swashbuckling) more easily than it could trample the plate-armored knight. Historically, when facing elephants, highly mobile skirmishers were the troops-of-choice, precisely because mobility was the only defense against a monstrous beast that could crush plated troops like ants.

In traditional fantasy games, this conundrum often has little impact, because most characters wading into battle are wearing plate armor, carrying a shield, and probably benefiting from magic to boot. In heroic fantasy, however, the heroes are often very lightly armored, either because they are roguish sorts who prize mobility, or barbarian contenders for the Mister and Miss Vallejo calendar 2000 B.C.

Some Judges may inquire whether we have erred in assuming that a monster’s improvement in attack throw from Hit Dice is necessarily due to greater mass and strength. Isn’t it possible that some of the monster’s improvement in attack throw is from skill and ferocity? Of course! But this is already provided for in the rules. Compare an 800-lb sabre-tooth tiger (8 HD, large size, attack throw 3+) with a 9,000-lb elephant (8 HD, gigantic size, attack throw 3+). The sabre-tooth tiger will have a -2 attack throw penalty and 2 points of armor penetration; the elephant will have a -6 attack throw penalty and 6 points of armor penetration. The two are co-equal against heavy troops, but the sabre-tooth’s attacks will fare better against dexterous targets, as the sabre-tooth is itself fast and ferocious. For more details on how to calculate the Hit Dice of monsters based on their size and ferocity, see Lairs & Encounters.

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