Narrative Combat

Narrative Combat gives Game Masters an entirely new combat system—one that moves away from the tactical skirmish-level miniatures game that d20 has become. This new system can be used with the existing feats and abilities, and is usable in ANY d20 game—Fantasy, Modern, Future or Past.

In fiction, combat serves to highlight and resolve conflict. The scene shows us something important about the world, the characters, and their relationships with one another. Combat also acts as a symbol for danger, sharpening the tension in a scene by giving us a visceral sense the characters might die.

In a RPG, though, combat occurs so often it blends into the background. The scene tells us little about the characters or the world. Instead it serves as a way to work with numbers and explore various tactical options. We play a game of combat in which random chance, character building choices, and tactical savvy stand dominant over narrative concerns.

With Narrative Combat we try to combine narrative flow and the game elements of RPG combat. The players make meaningful choices and face obstacles worthy of heroes in the pursuit of goals that mean something. Meanwhile, the game elements provide both play options and the dramatic tension associated with the possibility of failure.

This supplement, written by Shannon Kalvar, contains:

• An overview of Narrative Combat
• A detailed new story-based combat system for d20
• A guide to the tools needed to design and manage encounters under this system
• A chapter of example encounter templates
• The core feats of d20 translated into the new system—and guidelines for how to translate new feats and abilities from other d20 products