Combat rules for The One Ring 2e are described below. Original rules are in standard typesetting and proposed homebrew rules and changes are presented in italics.
The Onset of Battle
Combat should be dramatic and memorable for any group of players. Combat should happen in around one out of every two adventure sessions. Combat should feel seamless with the narrative, not dull and repetitious. To that end the following rules are proposed for the start of a battle:
- At the beginning of combat the company must select a purpose for their engaging in combat. This may be simple (such as utterly destroying a small gang of orcs) or complex (such as reaching and activating a lever to open a floodgate while protecting a priority target)
- The LM will select a purpose for the party or parties of enemies involved in combat. This may or may not be revealed to the player-heroes based on context.
- These dueling objectives will be tracked on the battle phase tracker. This consists of 6 increments for the company’s goals and 6 increments for an enemy party’s goals. A 7th slot can represent who gains the ultimate victory in the conflict. This can be tracked with pen and paper, a custom board, or using two (or more) regular 6 sided dice.
- *A player hero may make a Battle roll to determine how well the company organizes their initial tactics to accomplish their aims or thwart the enemy’s goals. A successful Battle roll increases the player-hero’s success tracker by 1, or 2 if any extra success icons are rolled. An eye, regardless of total result, results in a +2 to the enemy’s objective tracker. *
Battle Phases
As the enemy regains their footing in a battle and advance towards their objective they begin to press their advantage and press the player heroes. This is represented by the 3 distinct phases of combat shown below.
| Tracker Level | Battle Phase | Mechanical Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 0-2 points | Phase 1: Opening | Standard combat rules apply |
| 3-5 points | Phase 2: Escalation | The pressure mounts. The enemies trigger an environmental complication or tactical advantage |
| 6 points | Phase 3: Climax | The objective is nearly complete, the enemies gain an additional tactical advantage |
| 7 points | Defeat | The enemy objective is achieved, combat ends and the party must deal with the consequences of their failure. |
| If there are multiple enemy retinues involved in the conflict, the furthest progress one is shown on the tracker and is used to determine the battle phase. |
At the start of the enemy phase, the LM may automatically advance the enemy tracker by 1 point if an unengaged retinue spends its main action working toward their goal, or by spending 1 point of Hate from an enemy pool to trigger a malicious surge
Surprise attacks
A surprise attack happens when the Company is ambushed or when they successfully ambush an enemy party.
If the loremaster decides that a roll is required, the following guidelines are applied:
- Company is ambushed: All players must roll Awareness, a failure means that player won’t be able to make opening volleys or take actions in the first Close Quarters round. Other skills may be used if appropriate, especially Hunting or Battle.
- Company is ambushing: All players must make a stealth roll, all players must succeed for the surprise attack to succeed. Other potentially appropriate skills include Hunting, Battle, or Lore.
Opening Volleys
At the start of the battle, while the two sides are still separated by a distance a brief exchange of volleys using ranged weapons may be initiated.
The loremaster decides how many volleys to allow, based on the circumstances of the fight. All volley attacks are resolved as normal ranged attacks. Player-heroes carrying a shield may double its Parry rating if aware of the incoming attack.
When opening volleys are completed the combatants begin fighting at close quarters
Close Quarters Rounds
Each close quarters round follows the sequence below:
- Stance: Each player-hero chooses their stance, resolving any formation bonuses if applicable
- Action: Each player hero chooses their main action from the list of actions, or proposes an alternative main action based on the situation. Players may also select a secondary action
- Defense: Each player hero receives an attack that is based on the stats of which part of the enemy retinue could be attacking them
Combat Stances
Forward Stance You seek to exploit any opportunity to attack, to the point of exposing yourself to the retaliation of your enemies.
- Your attack rolls gain 1d. All close combat attacks aimed at you gain 1d.
- Combat Task: Intimidate Foe - Make an Awe roll, on a successful roll all opponents with Might 1 are Weary for the round, each success icon increases the might rating that becomes weary.
- Combat Formation: The Vanguard
Open Stance You fight without sparing yourself, but giving proper attention to your enemies’ actions.
- No advantage or disadvantage
- Combat Task: Rally Comrades - Make an Enhearten roll, on a successful roll all members of the company fighting in forward stance gain 1d on their next attack roll. An extra success icon extends this to those fighting in open stance, two or more success icons extends this to the entire party.
- Combat Formation: The Skirmish Line
Defensive Stance You fight conservatively, trying to protect yourself or others and holding your ground.
- All close combat attacks aimed at you lose 1d. Your attack rolls lose 1d.
- Combat Task: Protect Companion - Make an Athletics roll, on a successful roll the next attack aimed at the protected player loses 1d, plus another 1d for each success icon rolled.
- Combat Formation: The Shield Wall
Rearward Stance You stay away from the press of the fighting to attack your foes from a distance.
- You can attack your adversaries using only ranged weapons, and you can only be targeted by ranged weapons
- Combat Task: Prepare Shot - Make a Scan roll, on a successful roll the attacker gains 1d on their next ranged attack, plus 1d for each success icon rolled.
- Combat Formation: The Battery
Battle Formations
Sometimes heroes must band together to accomplish deeds of great bravery and prowess. When fighting alongside your comrades, your power is increased.
Player heroes and loremaster characters fighting in the same stance may band together into battle formations if they are targeting the same enemy retinue. These formations grant passive bonuses and allow the player-heroes in them to perform additional combat tasks. In order to enter a formation there must be at least 2 player heroes and/or loremaster characters in a stance and attacking the same retinue.
The Vanguard You band together in a wedge, driving the enemy out of your path at all costs.
- Bonus: You gain an extra 1d for each ally in the Vanguard, up to 2d
- Additional Combat Task: Cut a Path - You may make a Battle or Athletics roll and displace a number of enemies equal to the number in your vanguard, plus an additional enemy for each success dice.
The Skirmish Line You march in lock step with your comrades, becoming a maelstrom of shifting steel and flashing blades
- Bonus: You may increase your feat die result by one per each ally in the skirmish line
- *Additional Combat Task: Create an Opening - You may make a Battle or Scan roll to allow one ally to ignore the parry rating of the enemy retinue on their next attack per member of the Skirmish Line, plus one additional person per success icon rolled.
The Shield Wall You lock shields with your allies, protecting those behind you from harm.
- Bonus: +1 parry per ally in the shield wall
- Additional Combat Task: Hold the Line - you may make a battle or Awe roll to prevent enemies from attacking a number of heroes up to the number of people in the shield wall, plus one for each additional success icon.
The Battery Your coordinated fire sows confusion and terror across the enemy lines
- Bonus: Enemies successfully attacked by the battery lose 1d on their next attack for each member of the battery.
- Additional Combat Task: Cover Fire - You may make a Battle or Hunting roll to allow an additional person to take a rearward stance per person in the Battery, plus one for each additional success rolled.
Actions
Main Actions
- Recover your position after being knocked back
- Recovering a weapon, helm, or shield that was previously dropped
- Carrying a fallen comrade to safety
- Moving across the battlefield
- Attacking
- Combat tasks
- Objective Focus: If a player is in Rearward stance and is not engaged by any close combat attackers they may choose to attempt an appropriate skill roll with their main action. A successful roll adds 1 to the player objective counter or removes 1 from the enemy objective counter. Each additional success icon adds/removes one additional point from the counter. Players in close combat stances engaged with enemies may perform this action in a pinch, but suffer a 2d penalty to the skill roll due to the distraction of harrying enemies.
- Impose or Remove complication/advantage
Secondary Actions
- Advancing or retreating while fighting
- Drawing a weapon
- Locating something/someone on the battlefield
- Removing a helm or dropping a shield/weapon
Attacking
An attack roll is made using the Combat Proficiency corresponding to the weapon used.
- The difficulty of all attack rolls is based on a player-hero’s Strength TN, modified by the Parry rating of the targeted retinue
- The difficulty of attack rolls made against Player-heroes is equal to the target hero’s Parry score instead.
A successful attack roll inflicts damage on its target in the form of an Endurance loss based on the weapon used, and may inflict additional Special Damage types based on the quality of success of the roll. Attacks may cause more lasting injuries if a Piercing Blow is scored.
An Enemy Retinue pools the Endurance of a Leader and their minions into a single pool. Attacks hit the minion pool first, but players may take a Called Shot at TN+2 to bypass the minions and strike the Leader directly.
Endurance Loss A well-placed blow always has unpleasant consequences for its target, whether or not the hit is successful in producing long term damage.
When a melee or ranged attack roll succeeds, the target suffers an immediate loss of Endurance equal to the Damage rating of the weapon used.
When a Player’s endurance matches or goes below their total Load score they become weary. If endurance is dropped to zero, the player drops unconscious instead.
Adversaries do not become weary, but are eliminated upon reaching zero Endurance.
Knockback If you prefer to roll with the punches and reduce the force of a blow by giving ground you can halve the Endurance loss of a successful attack and be knocked back, spending your next main action recovering your fighting position. Enemies will not choose to be knocked back.
Extra Successes If a successful attack roll produces one or more success icons they can be used to trigger special results based on the war gear of the attacker.
- Heavy Blow - Any Weapon: Spend 1 Success icon to inflict an additional loss of Endurance equal to your Strength rating. Increase the Endurance loss by +1 if you are using a 2-handed weapon.
- Fend Off - Any Close Combat Weapon: Spend 1 Success icon to modify your parry rating for the round by +1 with Axes and Brawling weapons, +2 using swords and bows, and +3 using spears
- Pierce - Bows, Spears, and Swords: Spend 1 Success icon to modify the Feat die of your attack by +1 for Swords, +2 for Bows, and +3 for Spears.
- Shield Thrust - Shield: If your Strength is greater than the target’s Attribute Level, spend 1 success icon to push back your target. The adversary loses 1d for the length of the round.
- Seize The Moment - Any Weapon: Spend 1 success icon to increment the player’s objective counter by 1 or decrease the enemy’s counter by 1. Limited to 1 per combat round.
Piercing Blows In addition to causing an Endurance point loss, any successful attack may inflict a Piercing Blow. An attack roll produces a Piercing Blow on a 10 or Gandalf result on the Feat Die.
Characters hit by a Piercing Blow must immediately roll a feat die, plus a number of success die equal to the Protection value of the armor worn. If an attack made a character Weary, the roll is made before the weariness sets in. The target number for the roll is the Injury rating of the weapon used by the attacker. If the roll fails then the target has received a Wound.
Wounds
Most adversaries are killed outright when wounded. Player heroes can generally resist being wounded once without serious consequences, but risk their lives if injured a second time.
When a player hero is wounded for the first time they immediately check the Wounded box on their character sheet, then roll on the Wound Severity table to determine the extent of their injury.
Player heroes who are wounded a second time drop their Endurance to zero, they fall unconscious and are now dying.
First Aid Player heroes can reduce the severity of their injury with a Healing roll: player heroes who are not unconscious may attempt the roll themselves. A successful roll reduces the severity of an injury by 1 day plus 1 day for each success icon.
Each hero may be administered First Aid only once. A failed Healing roll cannot be repeated until at least a day has passed.
Dying Heroes Heroes are considered to be Dying if they are Wounded twice or if they roll an Eye on their Wound severity roll. Dying heroes must receive a successful Healing roll within approximately 1 hour or they will die.
If the roll is a success their life has been saved and they come to in about an hour, at 1 endurance. If wounded, heroes must add 10 days to the time required for their injury to mend. Finally, the injury generally leaves a permanent mark, though the details are up to the player.
Complications and Advantages
If the loremaster deems it appropriate a player hero can make a Battle roll as their main action to impose or remove a complication or to gain an advantage based on the description of the battlefield and the tactical choices of the combatants.
On a successful roll the player can gain an advantage on their next attack roll, remove a complication from it, or impose a complication on the next attack roll made against them. The modifier can be extended to additional players for each success icon rolled.
Resolving the Conflict
Objective Victory If the company fills their tracker and claims the 7th slot they achieve their purpose. Any remaining enemies lose all morale and Route. Elite leaders may attempt a fighting retreat or offer parley.
If the enemy party fills their tracker to the 7th slot, their dark design succeeds. The horn sounds, the cave collapses, or the artifact is stolen. Combat ends and the game transitions to a narrative sequence detailing the fallout and the company’s scramble to survive.
Breaking the Enemy When an enemy retinue’s endurance drops to 0 it is destroyed, all remaining members flee in terror.
If the leader of an enemy retinue is slain the enemy tracker is frozen and cannot advance further. At the start of the next round minions will attempt to flee unless the next highest ranked enemy successfully spends a point of Hate to seize command.
Surrender
Player heroes intending to leave a fight have two options:
- Assume rearward stance then choose to escape as a main action. No roll is required to do so.
- Assume Defensive stance, roll for an attack normally, and on a success you do not inflict any damage but leave the battlefield instead. If the roll fails the combatant remains engaged.