Post by Maneart in FORGE comments

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Thanks for this excellent piece of work !

Us new soloers here and trying to get used to the context.

May I please ask whether there is some sort of streamlined ...method to calculate a fair combat encounter for our PCs? And by fair I mean that they have a chance of winning...(little point in 2 level 1 folks encountering an overpowerd enemy\monster/ beast)...

If the above is answered within the context please excuse and kindly let me know where to find the answer.

Again many thanks for inspiring our worlds.

Alex

sub-atomic254 days ago (2 edits)

You could probably adapt Scarlet Heroes' method for playing with one hero or one hero and a companion. When you roll your weapon's damage die, you use the following chart:

1: no dmg
2-5: 1 dmg
6-9: 2 dmg
10+: 3 dmg

Heroes deal their damage directly to the enemies' HD, while enemies deal their damage to the heroes' HP. That means a 1HD bandit is killed in a successful hit if the damage die roll is 2 or more. (Since FORGE doesn't use HD for its example creatures, just use the creature's level instead.)

Heroes also have what's called a "Fray Die" equal to their weapon damage die that they can roll once per round to deal additional damage to enemies of equal or lower level. So a Lvl 1 Knight engaged with two Bandits (1HD) and a Bandit Leader (2HD) would be able to roll her d8 Fray Die at any time during the round and potentially deal 1 or 2 damage to the two bandits (but not to the higher HD leader).

This is a relatively simple way of beefing up a single hero such that they can take on a standard OSR combat encounter alone, or with a companion. However, it's not recommended to use this method for more than 2 heroes, or else they will be significantly overpowered.

Maneart253 days ago (1 edit)

Thank you ! I was mostly asking about how we decide how tough, and many, the enemies would be. Though you did provide with excellent ideas !

Zap Forge252 days ago

Hi there! The above advice is great, and actually ties in nicely with an addon that I've been putting together that helps facilitate true solo play - Paragon Mode. Both systems essentially toughen up and increase the capabilities of a lone adventurer (or two) allowing you to throw more at them.

The playtest for FORGE Paragon Mode is currently on the Discord, if you wanted to check it out. It is functionally similar to Scarlet Heroes, however more tuned for the FORGE primary/secondary attributes and (hopefully) simplifies some things.

With regards to balancing encounters anyway, I suppose the normal response you will get is that OSR games are inherently unbalanced.. which isn't particularly helpful I know. I suppose you could say that a 1HD/1st Level enemy should be roughly equivalent to a 1st level Player Character, however that would also depend on the character's equipment and what capabilities the enemy had. I think it is important to remember that in OSR games it is generally not a good idea to try and go toe-to-toe with an enemy, as you would in more modern versions of D&D. Instead, you are encouraged to think outside the current combat engagement - can you use terrain/topple scenery/bypass the encounter with stealth or diplomacy? Ultimately it isn't as straightforward as you were hoping!

I think you get a feel for it, the more encounters you play/GM. I have seen a group of 6 level 1 adventurers clear out an entire goblin/bugbear cave (30+ enemies) with clever use of poison on their food supplies... there will almost always be a way for the players to win if they come up with a good plan!

Maneart252 days ago(+1)

Thanks ! Pretty much that was the spirit og the answer inhad expect led myself. If you feel you are overpowered, use your mind ! Thanks again for the effort in this !

Zap Forge252 days ago

I think I see you already asked this on the discord too.. apologies for not answering sooner!

itch.io

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