Ars Certo

Copyright Peter Mork © 2011

"...playing a warrior should require selecting the right tactic from a similarly expanding set of options"

Ars Certo

As mages gain levels, their repertoire of spells grows accordingly; playing a mage requires selecting the right spell from an ever-growing set of options. As warriors gain levels, their offensive bonus gets bigger.

This article provides a number of optional rules for combat (especially melee combat). The ultimate goal is to allow warriors to gain new tactical options as they advance in level; playing a warrior should require selecting the right tactic from a similarly expanding set of options.

Defensive Options

New Skills

Normally, when a character is attacked, his defensive bonus is based on 3 × Qu. Thus, there is no mechanism for a character to increase his DB apart from parrying (or learning Adrenal Defense, which has a host of restrictions).

Using Ars Certo, we add a new skill category: Mundane Defenses (Qu/Qu, 0•0•0•0•0). This category costs 3/8 for all professions. It includes the following new skills.

• Dodge (Qu, 0•1•1•0.5•0): This skill determines the character's DB against any attack of which he is aware. It replaces the normal formula for DB (although a character with no ranks of Dodge will have a DB of 3 × Qu like normal).
• Parry (In, 0•2•1•0.5•0): This skill determines the character's DB when parrying an attack. The character's DB is increased by the amount allocated to parry, plus the parry modifier for the item (5 for most weapons).
• Shield (Ag, 0•2•2•1•0.5): This skill determines the character's DB when using a shield against an attack. The character's DB is increased by the shield modifier for the item (20 or more for most shields).

Option: If you prefer not to modify a character's core DB, the stat for each skill remains Qu. This prevents Ag and In from becoming even more important.

When multiple skills apply (e.g., a character is parrying and using a shield so all three skills apply), the player may choose which base DB to use (Dodge, Parry or Shield). The character's DB is still increased by any modifiers (including allocating OB to DB, shield/parry modifiers, etc.).

Example: Galion has +5 Qu, +2 Ag, +8 In, 12 ranks of Dodge, and 8 ranks of Parry. Thus, his Dodge skill bonus is +27, Parry is +34, and Shield is +12. Before he has his sword and shield out, his DB is 27. After readying his normal shield, his DB increases to 47 (he chooses to Dodge, but still gets the +20 bonus from the shield). When he parries with 40, his DB increases to 99 (+34 from Parry skill + 20 from the shield + 40 from parrying + 5 from the sword).

Using a Shield

Non-Actions: In RMSS, a character can declare a maximum of three actions in a round—one for each phase. Because actions are a precious resource, certain activities are considered non-actions. These activities tend to modify another action. For example, parrying is a non-action that modifies an attack by transferring OB to DB. A non-action still takes time (i.e., it consumes some % of the character's activity); it merely does not count against the limit of three actions per round.

Using a shield requires some concentration. During the declaration phase, the player should determine how many attacks he will be blocking with his shield. Each such allocation is a 5% non-action.

Whenever (during the round) that the character is the target of an attack (that does not receive positional modifies), the character can choose to "spend" one shield block to gain the following benefits: a) he can choose to use his Shield skill in place of Dodge and b) his DB is increased by shield modifier for the shield.

Parrying

Defending oneself with a weapon requires even more attention. During the declaration phase, the player chooses how many attacks he will half- or full-parry. Each half-parry is a 15% non-action, and each full-parry is a 30% non-action. However, if the character full-parries even once, he cannot declare any melee attacks.

Whenever (during the round) that the character is the target of an attack (that receives no positional modifiers and can be parried: missile and spell attacks can normally not be parried, but they can be blocked using a shield), the character can choose to "spend" one parry to gain the following benefits: a) he can choose to use his Parry skill in place of Dodge, b) his DB is increased by 50/100% of his OB (for half- and full-parries, respectively), and c) his DB is also increased by the parry modifier for the weapon (usually 5, except for parrying weapons like main gauches).

Each parry is also associated with a phase: Snap deflects can be used against any attack; normal parries can be used against any normal or deliberate attack; and deliberate blocks can be used only against deliberate attacks. Thus, an attacker can bypass a normal parry by declaring a snap attack. However, parry non-actions are not affected by initiative. Once the normal phase starts, a parry is effective, even if the defender lost initiative to the attacker. The modifiers for speed (-20/0/+10) and item are applied before halving the character's skill.

Example: Galion has +75 skill with a broadsword. When he half-parries (a normal speed non-action), his DB is 74 (+34 from Parry skill and (+75 broadsword + 5 parry modifier) / 2). When he full-blocks (a deliberate speed non-action), his DB is 124 (+34 from Parry skill + 75 broadsword + 5 parry modifier + 10 deliberate).

Option: When calculating a character's skill with a weapon, do not include any material bonuses (e.g., high steel or Laen). These bonuses only apply to attacks made with the weapon.

Armor

When a character is attacked, there is a chance that his armor absorbs the damage (armor includes any AT of 5 or greater). An attack that bypasses armor affects the target normally. An attack that is absorbed damages the target's armor (instead of the target). For normal armor, roll d100 and add 20 + 2 × AT; for magical armor, add 30 + 3 × AT. A simple leather jerkin absorbs damage 30% of the time, while magical full plate absorbs damage 90% of the time.

Armor points and damage are calculated as in Arms Law. A suit of armor has 50 × AT + 20 × DB armor points. Concussion hits are converted to armor damage directly; criticals inflict armor damage equal to 10 × severity. For example, if armor absorbs a 14C, the armor takes 44 points of damage.

As armor takes damage, it loses its ability to absorb high-severity criticals. Once a suit of armor has lost 20% (or more) of its armor points, it can no longer stop E criticals (i.e., any attack that results in a E critical automatically bypasses the armor). For every additional 20% damage, the armor's ability to stop criticals is reduced by one. For example, a leather jerkin (250 armor points) that has taken 50 armor points cannot stop E criticals. After 100 armor points it cannot stop D or E criticals. And, after sustaining 250 armor points, it cannot absorb any damage whatsoever.

Offensive Options

New Skill Categories

Since the inception of Rolemaster, two-handed weapons constitute a category unto themselves. Thus, a (two-handed) flail is considered more similar to a two-handed sword or quarterstaff than it is to a ball and chain. In Ars Certo, there are fourteen weapon categories (instead of seven). Each weapon cost now corresponds to two categories. For example, a Rogue can learn two categories at a cost of 2/5, two more at 3/8, six more at 3/9, etc.

With this classification, everybody can use certain weapons without much difficulty: clubs, rifles and (thrown) rocks. Finesse weapons that require some sophistication include chains, rapiers and pole arms. Simple weapons benefit more from category bonuses, but finesse weapons can ultimately result in larger OBs.

Attack Maneuvers

In RMSS, whenever a melee attack is declared, the player must choose from among nine options based on attack speed (snap, normal or deliberate) and attack type (full, pressing or react). These options are available to all characters, at all times. Using Ars Certo, a character must learn each of these nine options (plus the three parrying options listed above). Thus, each weapon category is associated with twelve basic maneuvers, plus one or more special maneuvers.

All characters start with two maneuvers for each category, usually the normal pressing and defensive maneuvers (forehand and parry for most weapons). For every two ranks the character develops in the appropriate category, he learns one new maneuver. For example, a character with 8 ranks in Weapon • Chopping knows a total of six attack maneuvers. After 20 ranks, the character learns one new maneuver for every five ranks, to a maximum of 14 maneuvers with 30 ranks.

Note that many maneuvers appear in multiple categories. For example, Forehand is a valid attack maneuver for every weapon category, and Lunge is valid for slashing and thrusting weapons. When a character learns such a maneuver, he can use that maneuver with any weapon for which that maneuver is valid (once you learn to Lunge with a broadsword, you can also Lunge with a rapier).

Example: Bronwyn uses swords and axes. She has 8 ranks of Weapon • Slashing and 1 rank of Weapon • Chopping. She currently knows Forehand, Backhand, Overhand, Parry, Lunge and Slash. She can use any of these maneuvers with a sword and all but Lunge with an axe. When she learns another rank of Weapon • Chopping, she is not able to learn another maneuver because she already knows at least three maneuvers applicable to the Weapon • Chopping category.

Each category also includes at least one special maneuver. To learn a special maneuver, the character must already know all pressing and defensive maneuvers for that category. For example, to learn Riposte, a character must know Deflect/Parry/Block and Backhand/Forehand/Overhand.