ADVANCED D&D THEORY: Combat Space

Now, D&D in the end is a simulation. We can describe things as they appear in the real world, one person is 5' 3" and another person is 8' 2", but in the end we cannot hope to describe every single nuanced detail when things devolve into combat. So we have normal, every day, running around in a normal appearing "reality", and then we have combat space.

Combat space is a term I use to describe combat in D&D. The term does not exist in any book in the game, but it exists none the less. It exists in every role-playing game to some extent, but is no more self-evident then in D&D 3.5. Now it has long been "proven" that pi equals 4 in D&D, but that is not entirely correct. The fact is that pi CHANGES to 4 when we enter combat space, then returns to 3.14-blah-blah-blah when combat ends. This is a factor of entering a simplified version of "reality" where combat outcomes can be better represented by random number generation and calculation. If we were to actually work things out, we'd need a supercomputer and several weeks, just to calculate the long term change in ambient temperature every time a frickin' fireball went off.

The problem is, this does have unfortunate side effects on reality when you simplify the fundamental laws of physics. Strange things occur, like the classic conundrum of pi becoming 4. Everyone and everything becomes a five foot, by five foot, by five foot cube. As a matter of fact, since adding the third dimension becomes such a hassle, most people simply choose to ignore it entirely in combat space. Now, as a DM, your job is to work in combat space, yet some how convert it back to a "reality" model that the players can understand. So let's understand combat space.

When we go from "reality" to combat space, the world is reduced to 5 foot cubes. These cubes have properties. One cube might have empty space with the property of "terrain". Another cube has "Slope - 2 movement to enter". Perhaps the cube over here has "Medium sized creature - Lower half" whereas the cube above it has "Medium sized creature - upper half". When the medium sized creature cubes try to enter the cube with the slope, and the cubes fail a tumble check, the two Medium Sized cubes collapse into one cube with a new property "Medium Sized Creature - prone" and we must determine if the "Medium Sized Creature - prone" remains in the cube with the slope property or in the cube before it, cube "Empty terrain".

Now, as a DM, looking at the world like this is NOT FUN. There is nothing dramatic or exciting about a series of cubes moving in, on, through, or around each other. Cubes like to bump into each other, attempting to reduce the hit point property of another cube to -10, or sometimes shout, "Screw this noise" and try to sneak into the back room so it can try and put the moves on the cube "Wench - charisma 15". But that IS what D&D combat is.

So, as a DM, your first step is to take reality and turn it into a bunch of cubes WITHOUT THE PLAYERS KNOWING. This is why walls have no width. When you are inside a building and outside a building, there is a five foot cube on both sides that you can move along, even if the wall in between is 2 feet thick. It's just that both cubes share a side with a property that is "Wooden Wall - Hardness: 2, HP: 20". And usually we don't care about that unless someone tries to power attack the wall to burrow through or some such nonsense. The funny thing is, even though we put down grids and put figures on the grid, the players almost never see the cubes. In fact, putting out figurines often helps the players to AVOID seeing the cubes. The power of imagination is a wonderful thing. YOU need to work hard to make sure the players never see the cubes.

You need to see those cubes, however. This is the hard part of combat space. In your head, you must convert things into cubes, perform your calculations, then turn them BACK from cubes into "reality", explain what the players experience, then ask for the next action, where everything turns BACK into cubes, you run your calculations, then the process starts all over again.

The internet may be a series of tubes, but DMing is a series of cubes.

You see, combat space isn't a static place you "enter" until combat is over. Combat space is something you jump into and out of repeatedly. Most DMs understand "combat space" even if they don't have a formal term for it. But few DMs have the skill to rapid fire switch back and forth between "reality" and "combat space" that is needed to properly entertain the players. Speed kills in D&D combat, but taking too long in D&D combat kills the fun. You can stay in combat space for just the NPCs, but every time a player takes an action, you need to come out of combat space and enter "reality". Skimping on this will ruin your player's enjoyment. It might be easier for you to skimp on converting back and forth, but it kills the illusion. Still, sometimes you might need to stay in combat space for a while, because the cubic interaction can get rather intense, and skimping on the calculations can lead to mistakes and mistakes can kill the illusion just as fast. We will address techniques for this in another lesson.

This is why I cannot stress enough to DMs who want to reach the next level of being a DM of D&D 3.0/3.5 to adopt the "Cubic Combat Space" Model. For you, the game is nothing more then a bunch of cubes, but the simplification that comes with viewing the game as a series of cubes makes the process move so much faster as you avoid getting bogged down in details. In fact, I would go so far as to say the game was DESIGNED as a series of cubes, the original creators just never formally came out and said it. Likely for the very same reason I'm telling you never to describe the game to your players in this format. Once you accept the Cubic Combat Model, it's hard to ever see the game the old way again.

For example, take the issue of 'Higher ground". Higher ground is a +1 bonus to hit that is granted to players who have the higher ground. What's higher ground? "Ask the DM" is what the books say, basically. Now YOU are the DM. You have to figure out what's higher ground. If you are a player, you start getting bogged down in minute details like, "Is it one inch? Is it one foot? How about four feet?" Which are all important questions, because jumping into the air is by the foot, and a player wants to JUMP into the air high enough to attack someone in mid jump to gain the +1 "higher ground" advantage.

Well screw me with a chainsaw.

If you are trying to figure this out by looking for an official ruling, you're going to be hosed. If this happens in the middle of a game, you are going to waste hours to find nothing. If you just give benefit of the doubt to the player to speed things up, well, this time it might be okay, but let me assure you, letting a player have their way because you feel rushed is a poor long term strategy for campaign maintenance. So how do we solve this problem? With Cubes!

Reading over the rules, we know that a mounted character has high ground and someone on a table has high ground. What do these two things have in common? Well, when a medium creature mounts a large creature, they combine (like VOLTRON) and become one unit. Well, how high is it? Well, the large creature is two 5 foot cubes high. the medium creature is 2 cubes high. So... 4 cubes? No. The top cube of the mount has the bottom cube of the medium creature sitting on it. These two cubes "mingle" in a fashion, so the over all unit is 3 cubes high.

Now the medium creature jumps on top of a table. The table is 1 cube high. the medium creature is 2 cubes high. The two objects do NOT combine, being one is terrain and one is a unit. So we can assume that the top of the medium creature is now effectively 3 cubes high. We have a pattern. 3 cubes high over 2 cubes high provides a combat advantage of +1.

Wait a sec? What about halfings and small verses medium creatures? Being smaller is often a combat ADVANTAGE!

Ah, but this is the other part of Cubic Combat Theory. You see, the properties of size have nothing to do with ACTUAL size. Small is a property. Being one cube high is not. So while to a player this might seem absolutely INSANE, to a DM, it makes perfect sense. The halfling on the floor has his +1 to hit medium creatures, and the human on the table has his +1 to hit the halfling on the floor. From cubic combat theory, they never interact, because one is a matter of placement of cubes, and the other is a matter of cubic properties.

This is why DMs have DM screens and don't let players see dice rolls.

As a player, if you knew about these conflicting bonuses, you might complain. From a "reality" stand point, they are in conflict. "How can short be an advantage, but being up high be an advantage, too?" They might ask. The very act of explaining it will ruin the illusion you are trying to build. Player enjoyment DEPENDS on the illusion, so you have to keep the calculations from them, so they don't go, "What the...?"  On the other hand, most players don't WANT to see the calculations. They want to leap through the air and swashbuckle like Errol Flynn on a table fighting a horde of evil Halfling assassins.

So remember it's a tool. You convert things to cubes, calculate, then convert back as quickly as possible. Describe the situation in flowing descriptive words to buy yourself some time so you can work out the next cubic interaction with as little down time as possible, and move onto the next. When you get the hang of it, it'll move quite smoothly.

How high DO You need to jump?
Assuming round up, round down, anything 2.5 feet high is a full cube in height and anything less then that is a terrain modification, the player would need to jump 3 feet into the air to gain a "higher ground" advantage, or make a DC 12 jump check as a move action. However, since he is jumping up 3 feet, then ending his move, and attacking, he is falling 3 feet as a free action at the end of his turn. Which means he then needs to make a DC 5 jump check or fall prone. Normally not an issue, but on rough terrain or a grease spell, it could become problematic.

Wait a sec... hop up is as "high as my waist" and a DC 10 check.

Hop up has an object you are landing on. Jumping 3 feet into the air does not, thus the 2 points difference in DC.