Making Cairn Combat Better

The Rules

On each character's turn, they get two actions, but only one of which can be used to attack or take a similar action (push, disarm, trip, etc.). A PC can forgo their second action to guarantee they go before their opponents (ignoring the DEX save).

Combat takes place in zones. Zones are approximately 40' areas. Moving between zones is an action, but moving within a zone is free and can be done at any point. A blast hits all creatures in a zone (or a number of creatures equal to the damage roll). You can use melee weapons to hit anything in your current zone. Ranged weapons can hit up to one zone away.

When a creature is hit in melee combat, it becomes in engaged with the creature that hit it. While engaged ranged weapons cannot be used, and if an engaged creature attempts to flee, all enemies engaged with it can attack it for free. A creature can disengage as an action to escape an engagement.

As an action, a PC can take a defensive action (block, dodge, or parry). If they take a defensive action and are attacked, they gain fatigue (but gain no fatigue if they are not attacked).

• Block - Attacks against you are impaired. You need a shield to do this.
• Dodge - When attacked, roll a d8, subtract your armor, then reduce your damage taken by the result. If the damage s reduced to 0, you are disengaged for free.
• Parry - When attacked, roll your weapon's damage and if it's greater than your opponent's damage, deal damage equal to your roll to their STR. If its lesser, take their damage directly to your STR. Neither of these hits trigger a critical damage save. If equal, nothing happens.

Everything else is Cairn as written.

The Explanation

I'm trying something out here, giving you the rules first and the reason for the rules second.

Anyways: Cairn's combat isn't the best. That's not a complaint, it's not trying to be good. I however, prefer my combat to be a bit more tactical. This is the goal of Block, Dodge, Parry, but I have some issues with BDP's implementation.

Quick and full turns are better represented by two actions (in my opinion) and I prefer zones to vague range bands, though that one is entirely personal taste, and I think engagements are necessary to allow the fighters to actually protect their squishier comrades in the back line, but what about the eponymous block, dodge, and parry.

Blocking and dodging in BDP work the same, they grant two weapon speeds (balanced and either fast or slow) impaired. Frankly, this has always felt really weird to me. For one its a punishment for using the middle tier of weapons, with none of the narrative bonuses of a fast weapon (ie: easy to hide) but none of the mechanical benefits of a big two hander. Yes you get a shield, but you can do the same with a dagger.

BDP attempts to fix this with the weapon clash system. I think it's a good system, though I wonder how useable it is at the table, but I applaud the implementation. A balanced weapon is equally likely to be the first to hit as it is to be the last to hit. That's useful, being average is often good.

But it doens't change that blocking and dodging are binary choices in BDP. Either blocking does the thing, or it doesn't. That's dull.

In my attempts at changing it, I wanted blocking, dodging, and parrying to hit different niches. Dodging is better than blocking, but only if you are unarmored, and blocking requires a shield (or a weapon capable of blocking). Parrying prefers big weapons (or a parrying dagger) but comes with high risk and reward. And that's ignoring passive defense in armor. Is it better? I don't know! It's not tested! Most of what I make isn't!

I've still been trying to implement the face down defensive card mind games of His Majesty the Worm into a game with dice. I'm not sure it's entirely possible, but the mind games of playing a horrible roll as a riposte and then acting like you played a good card is just so tempting. I need to find a way to implement this into a game that doesn't use tarot.

Haustoriamancy (For Cairn)

 Magic (the stuff you're thinking of) is a long dead art, practiced only through ancient scrolls and dying magitech. In this age we have haustoriamancy, or if you are of a less educated sort, enchanting.

Enchanters do not make magic items, no +1 swords or rings of protection. No, they bring magical to the mundane to let the mundane perform the impossible. Only in the hands of an enchanter is a torch a bomb, or a rope a binding coil, or a wolf's pelt a snarling beast.

Haustoriamancy is intended to be the primary form of magic in a setting, with more traditional Cairn magic existing, but not intended as a primary source of a character's abilities.

Becoming an Enchanter

Enchanting is a specialized semi-magical technique present in some members of society. For purposes of PC's, it is assumed any PC has the ability to become an enchanter, but lack the training unless granted to them by a background. Training takes 100 silver (silver standard) and several months of dedicated practice.

In addition, a haustoriamancer requires a ley-enchanted item, items with natural magic present inside of them. These items are either ancient relics (made entirely of non-conductive material) or items of deep sentimental value (again, made of non-conductive material). Regardless of what a ley-enchanted item is made of, it acts as a simple weapon (1d6 damage), unless it's a weapon that would do more naturally.

Enchanting

To enchant, a haustoriamancer uses their ley-item to infuse magical energy into an item, with the following restrictions:

1. Items must be non-conductive. Magic does not like metal.
2. Items must be a single item. You can enchant a bag filled with dust, but not the dust within the bag.
3. Items must be solid. Water is not an object, but ice is.

To enchant an item, a huastoriamancer gains 1 fatigue and expends an action (if in combat), and then afterwards can command the item to do something that fits for that item. For example:

• A candle explodes into a large puddle of slippery wax.
• A rope attempts to bind someone like a serpent of its own will.
• A quill writes a message on a paper when a certain trigger is met.
• A torch shatters into a storm of sharp splinters.
• A bag of dust explodes into an obscuring cloud.
• An arrow flies an impossible path.

After performing its duties, an enchanted item crumbles to dust if not destroyed by its action. The effects of these commands are up to interpretation. Creative use of items carries the day.

Enchanting Other Things

Additional training can unlock other possible items for a haustoriamancer to use. Just as learning enchanting, these cost 100 silver (silver standard) and several months of training. In addition, most of them are considered illegal in civilized lands, and will be stated as such.

Familiars and Blood Enchanting

One can create a loyal and intelligent familiar by spreading their blood onto an enchanted doll or other small construct. These familiars can communicate and follow tasks.

One can create more familiars, or larger and more dangerous familiars, but this is considered illegal, as a familiar will attempt to kill its master if it gets the chance. Small, singular familiars simply lack the necessary ability to do so.

Ley-Combat

One can learn to master the power of their ley-enchanted item. Ley-combatants can turn their item into any form of weapon.

Fire

One can learn to enchant flames, allowing them to guide the flame (not command) and increase its size and temperature. As fires are, of course, alive, they have minds of their own and will obey less and less the larger they get. Pyromancy is illegal. 

Wind

Like fire, wind is a obviously alive. Unlike other forms of haustoriamancy, to learn to control the wind you must first bargain with it by climbing onto the highest peak in the region and offering something of great value to the wind (the giants bargained their voices). Once you and the wind reach accord, you cam now bind to breezes and command the wind.

Bones

One can animate the bones of the dead (a complete skeleton is a single object, after all) into unthinking, but utterly devoted thralls. Only capable of simple tasks, such as hauling goods or pointing a spear at something and as effective at those tasks as any animated skeleton would reasonably be. Ossomancy is not necromancy, as you are only animating the bones, not returning them to unlife. Ossomancy is also illegal, but only on moral grounds.

Biomancy

One can manipulate their own blood, organs, and flesh through enchanting like they would any other object. Such options include:

• Using your intestines like a whip or rope
• Turning your nails into claws to use as natural weapons or to climb a tree
• Altering your face and body to be uncrecognizable.

Biomancy takes extreme toll on the body, causing 1d6 points of strength damage after an enchantment is finished. Legends tell of powerful biomancers being able to manipulate the biologoy of other beings, most notably to create the ketch, also known as the worst predator to ever exist. Biomancy is illegal.

Dreams

There is no magic in dreams.

Finding training in oneiromancy is difficult. There are few practitioner, and those who are hunted relentlessly. Oneriomancers can infuse magic into their thoughts to create phantasms of their ideas. These phantasms are real, but only temporarily. These dreams act real, though are obviously made out of thin magenta light, rather than flesh. Dreaming things into existence is extremely taxing mentally, causing 1d6 points of willpower damage. Oneiromancy is extremely illegal.