Battle View Ruleset

This ruleset is intended to bridge the mechanical gap between "Theatre of the Mind" style combat and grid-based combat and provide a more clear picture of a battle involving more than a couple enemies. As with any battle system, certain features of characters are emphasized while others are de-emphasized. The Battle View system strives to preserve the free-form combat enabled by Theatre of the Mind while still allowing character features such as movement speed, range, and reach to play an important and tangible role in battle.

Groups

There are two types of groups used during combat which represent the battle's eb and flow -- combat group and range group.

Combat group. Inside of each range group exists any number of these combat groups, which represent creatures with which you are engaged in melee combat (within 5ft). Each combat group in a given range group is separated by no more than 30 ft from every other group. The number of creatures that may reside in the combat group is based on the largest creature in said group. Medium and smaller can support 6 total creatures in a single group. For each size above medium, 3 additional creatures can be supported. Willingly leaving a combat group suffers an Attack of Opportunity from all hostile creatures in the group.

Range group. Each range group is separated by 30 ft and designated by a vertical stripe on the map. There are as many range groups as the DM deems necessary to represent the scope of the battlefield. Encounters in tight spaces may only have one range group, while encounters in open terrain may have 6 or more.

Using the System

The shape of the battlefield is ever changing and the main concern in combat is, generally, how far two opponents are away from each other. The following rules describe how to translate grid based movement that operates on a 5 foot scale.

Movement

Movement in the Battle View system is represented by shifting combat and range groups. A character's options for changing groups is based on the movement speed and detailed below:

• All movement speeds round to the nearest 15 feet increment.
• A character can change combat groups (including into a new combat group) by expending 15' of movement.
• A character can change range groups by expending 30' of movement. When entering a new range group, a character can place themselves in any combat group in the new range group (including a new one).
• A character with base movement speed at or below 20 feet requires the creature to be in an empty combat group prior to changing range groups.

Ranged attacks

When making a ranged attack if there are any hostile creatures in the character's combat group, the attack is made at disadvantage. When determining valid targets for a ranged attack:

• All weapon/spell ranges at and above 30 ft round to the nearest 30 ft increment and can target any creature in a range group within the attack range.
• All weapon/spell ranges below 30ft can target any creature within the attacker's current range group.

Melee attacks

All creatures that occupy the same combat group are considered to be within 5 feet of each other at any given time and may be targetted freely with a melee attack.

Weapons or melee attacks with reach provide greater flexibility when selecting targets. For every increment of 5 feet (beyond the base 5 feet) of attack range available to a character for a given attack, the character may treat one additional creature in the same range group as the character as being in the same combat group for the purposes of targetting.

A character may use their reaction to make an attack of opportunity against any creature that willingly leaves their combat group if their weapon's reach is 5 feet. Characters with a reach greater than 5 feet are granted an Attack of Opportunity only if a creature willingly leaves the character's range group or leaves the character's current group and moves into an already occupied combat group.

Area of effect

For each 15 foot increment in the of the area of effect (rounded up), the user may select 1 combat group as a target and has the following options in how to position the AoE:

• Affect all creatures in the selected combat groups
• Roll Nd6 (where N = the number of potentially affected combat groups) and target up to that many creatures total across all selected combat groups.

Envrionmental hazards and cover

The DM may elect to give certain range groups varying degrees of cover. All creatures in the affected range groups benefit from this cover against all creatures outside of their current combat group.

The DM may also elect to give certain range groups difficult terrain, which impedes movement inside the range group and through it. Using movement while in a difficult terrain range group allows only half the number of combat group changes that it would otherwise be allowed (minimum 1). Using movement when leaving or entering a difficult terrain range group forces the creature to finish their movement in an empty combat group. For example, when engaged in melee combat in difficult terrain, the character with movespeed of 30' must use its entire movement to disengage from its current combat group and enter an unoccupied one. On his next turn, assuming a hostile creature did not enter his combat group, the character may use its entire movement (one range group change per 30' divided by 2, minimum one) to change range groups to try and escape the threat.

For some battlefield configurations, the DM may limit the total number of combat groups in a given range group. This may represent a narrow passageway formed from a collapsed wall or a narrow rope bridge.

The Battlew View

Below is an example of a combat encounter in relatively open terrain which consisted of 6 range groups representing 180 ft of total combat space. The number of combat groups at this moment in the battlefield is as follows, from left to right range group: 2, 0, 1, 3, 1, 1

Todo

• Clarify AoE shapes. Targetted spherical is assumed currently.