Of the RPGs I have played over the years (decades), for armed melee fights, I like Runequest (2/3)'s system. It appealed to a crew of us because it came closest to matching our experiences in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), where we used (padded) swords, axes, pole arms, shields.
The key points are:
a number of factors affected the order that things occurred:
- SIZ of fighter (their reach)
- DEX (AGL) of fighter (their speed)
- size (length) of weapon (longer ones hit first)
missile weapons depended on only on being ready and DEX.
Attacks could happen at the same time.
A character had three actions in a given round:
Dodge
Action with weapon (attack or parry)
Action with shield (or second weapon) (attack or parry/block)
Attack is user's skill
Defender can try to dodge or block
Damage went to a specific area of the body (l/r arm, l/r leg, abdomen, chest, head).
Melee combat leaned toward targeting extremities - they stick out; missile fire leaned toward the chest (hits aimed at center of mass).
Armor on a location detracted from damage done. For example, I whack you in the head with a hammer for 4 pts, and you have 3 pt armor, 1 pt gets through.
This may sound involved, but Runequest seldom featured fire fights or sniper duels. And it differentiated a raft of melee weapons from small knives to two handed battle-axes
With a little headscratching, this could be grafted/adjusted into a T2K combat round.
But then again, note that a 6-7-in knife (Sykes Fairbairn, marine combat, or whatever) is a 6-7-in knife is a 6-7-in knife when compared to a 30-in broadsword. Or a shotgun.
Uncle Ted
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