Combat Computer Re-Creation

Enjoy this recreation of The DRAGON^TM Magazine Combat Computer by Laura and Tracy Hickman. As I don’t have the original magazine and insert, I thought it would be interesting to re-create it as a vector file with Adobe Illustrator CC.

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro
0:56 Re-Creation Process
3:09 How to Use It
5:10 Combat Example
6:21 Outro

About the DRAGON^TM Magazine Combat Computer

The DRAGON^TM Magazine Combat Computer was originally designed and developed by Laura and Tracy Hickman. It featured Graphic Design by Roger Raupp and Text Editing by Kim Mohan. It originally appeared in DRAGON Magazine #41, June 1983, as an article and insert.

There is an updated version of this AD&D 1ed Combat Computer on the Mage of the Striped Tower blog: https://mageofthestripedtower.blogspot.com/2012/02/ad-1ed-combat-computer.html

Transcript

Cold Open

Combat resolution in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons just got a lot easier!

Intro

Welcome to another DragonLance Saga creator episode. My name is Adam and today I am re-creating the DRAGON^TM Magazine Combat Computer by Laura and Tracy Hickman.

I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this YouTube channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links.

I am referencing DRAGON Magazine number seventy-four from June nineteen eighty-three, the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook & Dungeon Masters Guides, in addition to the mage of the striped tower blog for this video. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!

Discussion

My degree and profession is in Graphic Design. Having to re-create art from low resolution images is unfortunately part of my life. After becoming aware of the DRAGON Magazine Combat Computer, I felt that it would benefit me as a Dungeon Master who truly loves Advanced Dungeons & Dragons to get my hands on a copy. After some cursory searches online, I became aware of someone who already re-created and enhanced the DRAGON Magazone’s version. Rather than use what someone else had done, I thought it would be fun to make it myself. So I started by finding a PDF of the DRAGON Magazine issue with a scanned version of the Combat Computer, and imported it into Adobe Illustrator CC to re-create it.

Re-creating art can be a long and arduous project but with experience, you can use tricks of the trade to speed it up. The first thing I learned was that the original art wasn’t perfectly symmetrical, so I redesigned it to be just that. I kept the original images on a ‘template’ layer, so I could build on other layers over top of it. I use overlapping shapes, adding and removing them, to complete the design. I kept the Artwork, Type, and Modifiers on their own layers for ease of access. I also worked at normalizing type, angles, and distances of content to produce a more perfect version of the original.

When it was complete, I printed each out on the heaviest weight paper I had in the house. I ended up with sixty-seven pound vellum bristol cardstock. When it was printed, I used an exacto blade and cutting board to cut out the different layers. Then I used a one-inch brass fastener to connect the two layers, allowing space to rotate each. With the Combat Computer re-created, let’s examine how it is used.

Combat is always broken down into three basic steps. Who goes first? One person attacks something. If hit, they calculate damage. Rinse and repeat. To determine who goes first in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, each side rolls d-six’s, and the higher roll goes first. The inner number ring is the armor class, and the outer number ring is the ‘to hit’ number. To determine your ‘to hit’ number, the number you need to roll over with a d-twenty, line up the pointer on the edge of the plate, with the number on the inner ring of the base that represents the defender’s armor class. Next find the class/level ark for the attacker, and refer to the break line to the left of the arrow, and that is what you need to roll to hit.

You can then refer to the weapons windows for the weapon you are using against that armor class, and apply its modifier. This gives you the adjusted ‘to hit’ number. Different weapons are more or less effective against different armor classes, as armor classes represent types of armor worn by the defender. This then leads you to the inevitable discussion about apparent vs enhanced armor classes. This apples to armor with magical bonuses applied to them, like plus three chain mail. Apparent is the natural armor class for the type of armor, falling between two and ten. Enhanced armor class is altered by dexterity, magic items, magic spells and physical condition.

To discover the ‘to hit’ number with an enhanced armor class, line up the plate with the apparent armor class, note the weapon adjustment, then slide to the enhanced number, note the class/level break line and apply the weapon modifier. Roll your d-twenty, and if you hit, roll damage. The Defender then attacks back, and rinse and repeat. This alleviates the need to look at the weapons and combat tables in the players handbook and the dungeon masters guide, speeding up combat a bit, which is a net positive for the players and the Dungeon Master.

Let’s take a look at an example of combat as noted in the original article. First we roll for initiative, and our fighter rolls highest with a three. Our fighter is third level, and is attacking an opponent with their battle axe. Their opponent is wearing plus four chain mail. This grants them an enhanced armor class of one, as chain mail’s apparent armor class is five. You line the big arrow up to five, noting the battle axe weapon modifier of minus one, then move the big arrow over to one. The class/level breakpoint lands on seventeen. We apply the weapon modifier of minus one, and our fighter needs to roll an eighteen or above to hit its opponent. He rolls an eighteen exactly and hits the opponent. Then rolls a d-eight for damage rolling an eight. The opponent now gets to attack, and we re-roll initiative for the next round.

Again, the Combat Computer replaces having to review the weapons and combat tables for each attack, speeding up play when you are around the table. Virtual Tabletops have replaced the need for this as the math is all done for you, but it’s still a tool for your in person games that is invaluable, in this Dungeon Master’s humble opinion.

Outro

And that completes this re-creation of the DRAGON^TM Magazine Combat Computer by Laura and Tracy Hickman. Did you have the Combat Computer when it was released? Did you ever find combat resolution in AD&D challenging? And finally, would you like to see an AD&D actual play on this channel? Feel free to email me at info@dlsaga.com or leave a comment below.

I would like to take a moment and remind you to subscribe to this YouTube channel, ring the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and click the like button. This all goes to help other Dragonlance fans learn about this channel and its content.

This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I hope you will join me in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time Slàinte mhath (slan-ge-var).