Dungeoneering with weapons drawn

Is there any benefit to having your weapons drawn while delving?  From the rules it appears you can always draw a weapon (and drop something to boot) for "free" on your intiative.

I ask because I'm considering a default -1 for monster reactions to adventurers who have their weapons out. This seems reasonable to me; folk showing up in your lair/hallways with weapons out seem more likely to have ill intent.

For better or worse, this standard penalty would have the effect of making "Monster attacks" reactions rolls similar to the Rules Cyclopedia, moving them from ACKS' 1-in-36 chance to 1-in-12.

But this won't be much of a cost/benefit analysis for PCs if there is no actual benefit to having your weapons drawn.

If there is no benefit to having your weapons out I suppose that's fine, but it seems a bit odd. Of course having your weapons out and ready for ten minutes or more at a stretch creates another kind of oddity; you might expect characters to draw weapons only upon hearing something at a door just prior to bashing it down, for example.

Having a ready shield is useful and stikes me as relatively non-threatening so I wouldn't penalize that.

Another consideration: I suppose spears are pretty much going to have to be drawn if the ceilings are low. Or maybe always depending on one's campaign. I confess I don't know much about spear harnesses.

It’s not really difficult or abnormal to have weapons drawn, in my opinion. There’s a difference between ‘sword in hand loosely, pointed towards the floor’ and ‘sword raised and ready to strike’, after all.

Maybe so. I don't have much experience with real medieval weapons, much less hiking with them for hours with full camping gear.  :)

There is no per se reason not to have them drawn, but many of the dungeons in my own campaign world have interesting and unusual features that require weapons sheathed for balance, climbing, crawling, etc.

As far as reactions, I have lately been using a revised approach, along these lines:

1. Determine what the monster's default reaction is. For instance,

  • If the adventurers are armed and encountered uninvited in the monster's lair, HOSTILE.
  • If the adventurers are unarmed and uninvited in the monster's lair, UNFRIENDLY. 
  • If the adventurers are encountered with justifiable reason to be in the area, NEUTRAL

2. Roll on first impression to see how the monster's reaction varies from the default.

Monster Reaction

Adjusted Die Roll

Result

-1 or less 3 degrees worse than default

0-2

2 degrees worse than default

3-5

1 degree worse than default

6-8

Default

9-11

1 degree better than default

12-15

2 degrees better than default

16-18 3 degrees better than default
19+ 4 degrees better than default

A natural roll of 2 always results in hostility, a natural roll of 12, always results in friendliness.

EXAMPLE: A bard with CHA 18 and Mystic Aura (+5 total) leads an armed party of adventurers into a dungeon, where they encounter some orcs (default: Hostile). The reaction roll is made at 2d6+5. 

  • On a natural 2, the orcs are automatically Hostile and attack.
  • On a 3, +5 = 89, the orcs remain at their default of Hostile and attack.
  • On a 4 +5 = 9, the orcs improve by one degree to Unfriendly.
  • On a 5 + 5 = 10, the orcs improve by one degree to Unfriendly.
  • On a 6 + 5 = 11, the orcs improve by one degree to Unfriendly.
  • On a 7 + 5 = 12, the orcs improve by two degrees to Neutral.
  • On an 8 + 5 = 13, the orcs improve by two degrees to Neutral.
  • On a 9 + 5 = 14, the orcs improve by two degrees to Neutral.
  • On a 10 + 5 = 15, the orcs improve by two degrees to Neutral.
  • On an 11 + 5 = 16, the orcs improve by three degrees to Indifferent.
  • On a 12, the orcs are friendly and, because of Mystic Aura, Charmed.

3. Roll again after 1 round, 1 turn, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month of regular interaction to adjust reactions, applying Bribery, Diplomacy, Seduction, or Intimidation modifiers.

EXAMPLE: Assume the roll was a 4, modified to 9. The orcs are now Unfriendly, but they don't immediately attack. The bard has Diplomacy and says "We're here to join the Dark Lord!". Now he rolls again, this time at +7 with an Unfriendly default.

Assume the die roll is an 8 + 7 = 15, improve by three degrees. That brings the orcs to Friendly. Since he has Mystic Aura, they are charmed! "Oh! So excited to have you join Team Evil!" 

It's a work in process but expect to see it in either HFH or Axioms.

 

 

Interesting! Thanks for posting that, Alex. That's "unarmed" as in "weapons put away," yes?

But do I have it right in that there is really no advantage to having weapons drawn with regard to the combat round (p257), and so only the disadvantage of a worse default reaction remains?

[quote="nemomeme"]

Interesting! Thanks for posting that, Alex. That's "unarmed" as in "weapons put away," yes?

But do I have it right in that there is really no advantage to having weapons drawn with regard to the combat round (p257), and so only the disadvantage of a worse default reaction remains?

[/quote]

I was thinking that maybe it would take a round's action to get your weapons ready, but looking over page 104's Other Actions section leads me to believe that you can draw a weapon and still attack without trouble. So I'm getting kind of curious about this myself.

I've continued looking over the rules and am arriving at the conclusion that the RAW provide no advantage to having one's weapons out beforehand. 

Absent missing something, I'm adding a sub-routine to the Declare phase of any initial combat round. Cast a Spell intent now includes a Commit to Held Weapon clause (again, first round only). Where true, a player may indicate they're not having to draw a weapon that round and they are committing to not switching weapons in the first round.

Characters and monsters that cast spells in the first round or have their weapons out and don't have to draw/switch to another weapon get a +1 to the subsequent Roll Initiative phase.

Two effects: 

Having weapons out (even one character!) is a trade off against any initial reaction rolls made as characters move through the dungeon.

If they're willing to give up any information about how the combat is going to go, spell-casters can have a slight edge on getting that important spell off in the first round. Hair trigger Sleep spells? I'm cool with that.

The benefit of having a weapon drawn is you can move and attack on your initiative. If you have not drawn a weapon, you can either move or attack when you select the “move and attack” action (p 257). If you have the fighting style proficiency with your weapon, you can draw it for free (p 60).

However, I agree that the text on p 101 and 104 is pretty clear you can drop a weapon and draw another for free. This contradicts the other texts. I guess you can decide what fits best in your campaign :slight_smile:

Thanks, Weron!

Rather than messing with initiative, I'll add a clarification to my house rules document that the chart on p 257 along with the benefit provided by the Fighting Style proficiency are the correct interpretation and supercede p 101 & p 104.