Several months ago, I looked at the idea of a two-action economy for OSR games that played off the AD&D rule of being able to move half your movement rate and still attack for the round and also the old-school idea of multiple attacks a round.

I’ve rethought this a bit and now think that attacks-per-round should probably be limited to two. Additional damage should probably be left to class features (feats) that, for example, allow one hit to damage more than one opponent.

Therefore, I now think a two-action economy should work like this….

A round is 15 seconds. Your movement rate is 30 feet per round. You can perform any combination of two actions: attack, move, defend, etc.

If you choose to defend, you gain +2 to your armor class against one attack or lend +2 to the AC of an ally within 5 feet. If you use both your actions to defend, you can gain or lend +2 against two different attacks or +4 against one. (Imagine the valiant fighter standing over a fallen comrade, using both actions to defend.) Note that using a bow to defend yourself from a melee attack forces it to save vs breakage or be destroyed if the attack can hit AC 10 (even if it doesn’t hit the archer for damage because the archer’s AC is higher than 10).

Note that, in this system, bows don’t get two arrows for every attack. Within the game’s reality, you may shoot more arrows than are accounted for by attacks, just as a warrior will often make more than one swing; damage done is for the total effort during the attack, not an individual swing or arrow. You merely collect the arrows afterward. On a natural 1, an arrow is broken or otherwise lost; there’s no need to track this unless the hero is using magic arrows and only has a couple.

Now every fighter has the option to move, to attack aggressively, or fight defensively each round–a nice, simple set of options that opens up OSR without making it so expansive with feats that it’s hard for players to even keep track of them.

This defense idea comes from Hearthfire, by the way, which itself has a two-action economy, altho for some reason, they regard “guarding” as requiring both actions.

Things that Cost 1 Action

• Move 30 feet (including a save to dodge a magic effect)
• Attack with a melee weapon
• Attack with a bow and prepare another arrow✽
• Defend with a melee weapon
• Aim and shoot a crossbow
• Reload a light crossbow
• Cast a spell costing 1 action
• Retrieve a potion on your person and drink it
• Switch weapons
• Standing from prone

✽ Spend 1 point of luck to shoot again and prepare another arrow.

Things that Cost 2 Actions

• Load a heavy crossbow
• Cast a spell costing 2 actions
• Make a sweep attack✽ (half damage to all within melee range, move up to 5 feet)

✽ Requires a weapon with the sweep trait.

Things that Cost Zero Actions

• Speak, shout, etc.
• Throw a lever
• Drop something, including a pack or shield
• Drop prone
• Shoot a loaded and aimed crossbow

There should be no opportunity attacks except where a creature tries to pass thru your melee range (that is, squeezes past you in your square, if you’re using a grid). Traditional opportunity attacks make combat very static.

Playtesting

This is only theory and would have to be playtested to see how players switch between attacking against weaker opponents and defending or moving against stronger opponents.