Charging Rules For Tales Of Argosa

 

In Tales of Argosa, Charging gains a PC double movement and a +2 to hit bonus. But their opponent also gains a +2 to hit bonus, so there is little to no advantage in charging beyond covering double the distance. And while covering twice the open ground may be desirable, it isn’t the only reason historical infantry charged an enemy.

But let’s contextualise this; there is a huge difference between one combatant charging an enemy foot-soldier and a charge of massed ranks of a trained infantry unit. On the other hand, in fantasy RPGs we do want to be able to do this. It’s fun and you want to have the option of imagining your Fighter hurtling into the ogre, or a unit of orcs, and it counting for something. So what might that look like?

Historically, the main reason for an infantry charge was to disrupt enemy formations. Psychologically, its intimidating, having an enraged enemy warrior hurtling towards you with an axe. And that’s easy to achieve in most OSR games: that’s a Morale check.

If the Morale check fails, the enemy routs and either a Chase ensues, or by GM caveat, the charging force/PC gets a free attack. This might not happen if the distance between the two is too great, though. If the GM really doesn’t want the NPC(s) to rout, or if they cannot, the GM can impose a -2 to hit penalty instead to simulate being intimidated.

If the Morale check succeeds, there will be a clash. In this instance, the charging force has the advantage of momentum. This is where the attackers gain a +2 to hit bonus.

If the attacking force is a substantially superior force, I might even give them Advantage, but that is a weighty bonus. I would only give this if one side were truly superior, such as highly disciplined veterans, or monstrous humanoids with natural advantage, such as ogres. I wouldn’t give it to Skorn, as they are too undisciplined. Or I might apply it if the force ‘receiving’ the charge were untrained/new recruits that have somehow passed the morale check, perhaps due to an outstanding rallying effort by a PC Bard, or to a supernatural means that doesn’t improve their fighting ability.

Finally, if the receiving force gained a Great Success on their Morale check, then I would award them a +2 to hit bonus, possibly evening out the battle at that point. Sometimes the defenders just decide to hold the line or die!

Summary: Charging provokes a Morale Check. Failure usually results in a rout, or a -2 to hit penalty if this is impossible. If the morale Check succeeds, the Charger(s) still gets a +2 to hit bonus. If there is a substantial difference in the quality of troops, in favour of the attackers, this becomes Advantage.

Hopefully, this provides more reasons to charge. If you try it out, please let me know how it goes!