Abstract Combat rounds in AD&D

“OK, you have a full minute to attack the guy. But, uh, only one chance to hit.”

In my earliest experiences with AD&D, one of the concepts that chapped my ass the most when it came to combat was the abstract nature of a “round” or “combat turn.” As described in the rules, two (or more) combatants would attack, dodge, and block many times in that 60-second round, but only one opportunity to actually get a strike in occurred in each of those rounds.

I know that for my first few years of gaming I just accepted this for the most part, but as I got older and my games themselves matured, and there came times when the one-minute round just didn’t jibe with what was going on in-game. I saw the need for a shorter combat round, assisted by experiences with other games that had shorter combat “turns” or “rounds” of only a few seconds in length that worked out so well. I mean, who wants a minute’s worth of stuff to go on in the game that they don’t get to experience?

So my D&D one-minute “round” turned into a six-second “combat round.” I don’t really recall how I came up with that, but I think it was based on the six-second segment that applied mostly to spellcasting. That seemed long enough for just a little bit of dodging and jockeying, before getting in your chance to actually hit. Thinking in those terms, it just got easier to visualize and describe what was going on almost exactly in a combat, not just a bunch of superfluous flailing around. Also, combats between mid-level or higher opponents didn’t have to be assumed to be 8-20 minute affairs (watch a heavyweight boxing match and you’ll see that length of active non-stop hand to hand combat is beyond ridiculous). Two half decent swordsmen would fight for around a minute if they each got a little less than a dozen attacks in.

I really don’t know that the creators where thinking with the one-minute combat round where you only get on chance to hit. What were they smoking, the drapes? Let’s face it, usually a minute can seem like a long time. Did you ever stand in the shower waiting for conditioner to work? How about a minute-long elevator ride that somebody had just previously farted in (I almost died that day – I’d give anything to get back at that human skunk)? Those AD&D combat rounds stand out as one of the earliest things I “fixed” in my games.

OK, so to make things fair for the spellcasters, some winging it had to happen when it came to doing spells in combat. Most given rounds for spells are a minute as well (outside of 6-second segments and full ten-minute turns), but it’s pretty easy to look at the particular spell and decide on a case-by-case basis if it includes a one minute round or a six-second “segment.” Yep, on spell timing I really wing it, but that is maybe a post for another day.

I should probably mention as an aside, that the abstract nature of hit points never really bothered me. In fact, I actually like the concept of a hit point pool that mostly represents luck, divine favor, and defensive tricks, with just a nick or a heavy wound being abstract in amount compared to the health and size of the victim. Get down to one hit point, and you are almost out of life and luck both. Gotta love it.