Ideas for less brutal Frostgrave Combat

[Mr. Peabody]

So, we have been playing quite a lot and enjoying Frostgrave a great deal. Yes, it is a swingy, chaotic, killy, nostalgic d20 kind of game. But in the context of the campaign, it's all part of the fun and it's good to know that even "powerful" characters are vulnerable to a lowly archer or thug.

We did change some stuff, very quickly adopting the well reasoned 'Bad Karma' campaign mods, which help keep everyone focused on recovering the treasure.

I wouldn't change the combat mechanics one bit. They are simple yet clever. I've played games that were more complex and delivered less.

 

[Remington]

I still think the biggest thing missing (as in the Bad.Karma house rules) is that there's no neccessity to get the treasure off quickly, the player is rewarded to much for attempting to wipe-out the opposing war band.  We're using a slightly different time limit on games, so most finish after 5 turns, but a few go to 6 and some might go to 7.  This means getting the treasure off is a high priority.

Quick and dirty combat works for this, but allows non-combat wizards a chace to win games (especially if they have movement spells).

This for me was the thing I wanted changed from the day I read the rules. We don't approach it with a turn limit at the moment; in fact we discussed a house rule that distributes the remaining treasures amongst all players of that game. That way even constantly unlucky players get something to work with and you're punished for being tardy by having to share. I am sure that's not a perfect system either though...  and the more I think of it, the more I see ways it could be exploited.

To the topic at hand... I like the lethality of the combat system. First off I know that my minis might not be dead and the game doesn't take for ever. I was talking about this to another wargamer... we were both not really sure if other systems like Mordheim are actually less lethal.

[Van-Helsing]

This for me was the thing I wanted changed from the day I read the rules. We don't approach it with a turn limit at the moment; in fact we discussed a house rule that distributes the remaining treasures amongst all players of that game. That way even constantly unlucky players get something to work with and you're punished for being tardy by having to share. I am sure that's not a perfect system either though...  and the more I think of it, the more I see ways it could be exploited.

To the topic at hand... I like the lethality of the combat system. First off I know that my minis might not be dead and the game doesn't take for ever. I was talking about this to another wargamer... we were both not really sure if other systems like Mordheim are actually less lethal.

In the many games our Group has played, its become obvious a Turn Limit would reward the more "zappy" wizards anyway

[Helznicht]

I have re-wrote the combat system (and a few other things) combining the best of Frostgrave with the best of two of my favorite other skirmish mini games (Mordheim and Heroscape) while tightening up a few rules.  All IMO of course.  Not sure anyone is interested, but PM me if you want a copy.

[gorillacrab]

I play in Mr Peabody's groups and as he writes, we have adopted several changes from Calmdown's threads, such as limiting games to 5-6 turns, allowing warbands to gain treasure by simply possessing it as the game ends (although exiting is much safer), and gaining 20 experience for any spell cast but NOT gaining exp for killing with spells (to prevent Attacker-type casters from having an advantage).
As well, if any treasures are left unclaimed at game end, all players share 25 exp for each.

I've played at least 8 games with this system and found the result is a huge focus on gathering treasure and casting spells to gain experience while opting for attacks/kills only when it makes tactical sense - generally to deprive another warband of treasure. Additionally, many games start with wandering demons in the area, so the beasties often draw most of the attacks in the opening turns.

So unlike the OP, I find games are somewhat less bloody than I'm used to, with Casters using spells such as Leap or Telekinesis to get as much treasure and experience as possible. Watching players use create spell combos in pursuit of experience rather than simply battling for kills is another great selling point of Frostgrave for me.

And finally, let's recall that in the Campaign system, most of those characters you thought were dead during the game generally return after rolling on the Wound table after the game.