pinned Terath's Pre-Roll Combat System

TERATH'S PRE-ROLL SYSTEM
This system is designed to be used for large group combat settings. It can be used in small groups or for other purposes, but it really only shines with large groups (10+ combatants, including players and enemies). The objective of the system is to move combat in a quick, effective manner while still having it be fun and impactful.

The system works very well with the BSR Manager app. At this time, only the GM or assistant GMs (aGM) need the event the app. Message Terath to get the latest version of it. At the time of writing the current version is v005.

Quick Reference:

• Rolls are done before emotes by the GM. GM will list out each person’s roll in turn order.
• Players post their emotes in turn order, knowing the result of their action. Players should include the result in their emote. (See examples of attacking below)
• GM should track all health and rolls.
• GM or aGM will emote enemy actions and whether they hit or miss.
• GM or aGM will help keep players moving through the turn order, usually by saying who is up in group, and who will be next.
• Players can use their action to attempt to accomplish other tasks that are not just attack or defense, such as mounting a clannfear (this would not do damage).
• For most events, all of the enemies go at once, rather than being mixed into the turn order.

Damage and Health:

• For most events, players have 4 health. Enemy health varies
• A hit (10+) will do one damage. Some variables can increase or decrease damage:
• Weaknesses such as poison or silver - usually add 1 extra damage to a hit
• Strengths such as immune to poison or resistant to fire - removes one damage, or nullifies damage
• Natural 20 rolled - this can do either double damage or 1 extra damage, depending on context
• In this system, there are no defensive rolls as this slows down combat a great deal.
• If an enemy rolls a nat20, it cannot be blocked by any means.

A big thank you to @Zemathas for writing up the following section and co-developing the mechanics!
ACTION INFORMATION
Each player starts with a single Defense Point. Some actions will consume this point and it is not renewable for the rest of combat. Should the combat end and another begin, that point is restored.

ATTACKING
Attacking counts as a full action. Players may only take one action per round, but posts may be flavored to make it more interesting. Offensive spells are counted as attacks.

‘Seriduril lifted his shield in an attempt to block the incoming attack from VAMPIRE 1 (whom rolled a 15), but the vampire was quick and managed to cut deep into his chestplate.’ This first section allows the player to give a reason as to why the attack succeeded without it just blatantly hitting their character.

‘Seeing an opportunity, he lunged his sword toward the vampire, but caught only clothing (as he rolled a 6).’ This second section is the attack. The order doesn’t matter, but as the first section didn’t actively block beyond what the enemy rolled, an attack is allowed.

DEFENDING
There are three types of defending: Active in-turn, active out-of-turn, and passive. Defending includes -- but is not limited to -- stepping in front of someone to block an attack, parrying, dodging, and lifting a shield to block an attack against yourself. Only one target character can be blocked at a time.

• Passive defending does not require an action but must be declared while the direct parties involved (casting character and target character) are not in combat (no attacks made by the enemies or by those characters). It does not take a Defense Point, nor does it take up an action during the character’s turn. It does not affect enemy or player rolls, only positioning.
  
• Active in-turn defending takes up the possibility of an attack by the player. It does not take a Defensive Point from the pool, though does depend on rolls. Rolling for this type of defending takes half of that roll (rounded down) from the enemy’s roll. For instance, if the enemy rolls 16 and the player rolls 5, the enemy will have its roll reduced to 14; it would still hit, just not as hard. The resulting damage is redirected to the casting player.
  
• Active out-of-turn defending does not take up any attacks, nor does it rely on rolls. It is an instant success, but takes up a Defense Point for the character. This type of defending redirects all damage done to the casting player and reduces the enemy’s roll by half. For instance, if the enemy rolls 16, that roll will be reduced to 8. This type of defending can be used either preemptively or reactively.
  

HEALING
There are two types of combat healing: Active in-turn and active out-of-turn. Healing includes actions that mend previously obtained wounds. This does not negate incoming damage. Only one target can be healed at a time.

• Active in-turn healing takes up the possibility of an attack by the player. It does not take a Defensive Point from the pool, though does depend on rolls. Should a player fall unconscious and this heal is used, no points of health are consumed to account for the revival. Instead, the player must treat their character (the target) as unconscious until their next post. This means that any attacks made toward them by enemies will be treated as such. Rolling for this action can have three results:
  
  • Rolling a 1: The heal fails.
  • Rolling 10-19: The heal succeeds and restores one point of health to the target character.
  • Rolling a 20: The heal crits and restores up to two points of health to the target character.
  
  
• Active out-of-turn healing does not take up any attacks, nor does it rely on rolls. It is an instant success, but takes up a Defense Point for the character. It restores two points of health to the target character. If the target player should fall unconscious and this heal is used, one of the two points of health is consumed to bring them back to the waking world immediately; rather than giving them two points of health, they receive one, but are once more fully aware.

WARDING
There are three types of combat warding: Active in-turn, active out-of-turn, and passive. Warding negates a portion of incoming damage but does not restore points of health to the target character.

• Passive defending does not require an action but must be declared while the direct parties involved (casting character and target characters) are not in combat (no attacks made by the enemies or by those characters). It does not take a Defense Point, nor does it take up an action during the character’s turn. It negates 5 points from the enemy’s roll, only lasts up to one round, and may be cast on no greater than five players.
  
• Active in-turn defending takes up the possibility of an attack by the player. It does not take a Defensive Point from the pool, though does depend on rolls. Rolling for this type of warding takes half of that roll (rounded down) from the enemy’s roll. For instance, if the enemy rolls 16 and the player rolls 5, the enemy will have its roll reduced to 14; it would still hit, just not as hard.
  
• Active out-of-turn defending does not take up any attacks, nor does it rely on rolls. It is an instant success, but takes up a Defense Point for the character. This type of warding reduces the enemy’s roll by half. For instance, if the enemy rolls 16, that roll will be reduced to 8.