Combat is an essential part of many video games. So, how does combat function and stand up in a pen and paper game? It’s neither very different or bad.

Not all gamers know the underlying functions to the combat they play. Within each round of movements there is the potential for dozens of different checks. To hit checks, dodge, parry, block checks, damage location checks, actual damage… The list can go on and on. All these checks are made in a fraction of a second and the results appear instantly — so combat may seem far simpler on the surface than it really is. In pen and paper games you have these same types of checks, only the players and GM have to manually roll for them. In a typical round of Dark Heresy combat the players and enemies roll for initiative order (attack order) that they will use throughout the battle. In the span of each round each combatant is allowed one full action and as many free actions or reactions as they want. So, combat can get moving at a pretty good pace once everyone is very familiar with their characters and the rules. Actual attacks typically have 4 different checks. For instance, a single shot from a pistol: roll to check against ballistic score, roll for location that’s hit, enemy has a chance to dodge so they check against their agility, if the enemy fails to dodge damage is rolled and modifiers applied — toughness, armor, etc. All those same checks are made in the video games we play. (which isn’t really surprising since a lot of the video games are based off rules from pen and paper type games)

So the functions are similar, how’s it play compared to a video game? Differently, of course. Combat is far slower, but the combat is also far more in-depth. Using that wonderful thing called the imagination you can often create your own actions that make use of your settings features — many that the GM probably had not thought of. ‘True’ combat is possible, in the sense that you could attempt to do whatever your imagination and in-game limitations allow. Have a grapple sitting in your backpack? See an enemy standing under a tree? In most video games that grapple would be useless except for the single quest/task it was meant to be used for — in pen and paper it’s now a weapon that can be used to string that monster up or allow you to attempt some other crazy move. It may take a few checks and some rules surfing by the GM while he tries to come up with something to say, but it’s all possible. The other benefit of improve and imagination is the spectacular scenes of failure. Just last night my and my friends were practising the combat for Dark Heresy — we’ve been out of pen and paper games for some time — and in the opening actions the maniac noble I was GMing failed his attack action horribly — not only failing it but shooting himself instead. (I didn’t even go to any rules on that, just went with it, the roll was really that bad) Freeform, imaginative combat is incredibly fun — even if it’s not twitch or remotely fast. A simple die roll can lead to some amazing heroics, or spectacular blunders.