How I Gave Up Worrying and Learned to Describe Attacks

Our niche tends to be a divided front on most issues, and combat in our games is no exception. Some of your players may not enjoy roll playing, which is rolling dice just for the sake of rolling dice, they may enjoy a bit more flair in their combat. What do their attacks look like? How awesome are they really? How can you make the attacks more interesting?

Does it hit?

Even misses are interesting to describe, how close does it come to hitting the character? Does it glance off their armor or do they dodge nimbly out of the way? For D&D I typically go off the characters touch attack. If the attack is higher then their touch attack then blow glanced off their armor. If it doesn’t make the touch AC they dodge nimbly out of the way.

Savage Worlds is handled in a similar manner. If the roll does not exceed his Parry then it’s either knocked out of the way or dodged nimbly. The lower the roll the easier it was to dodge. If your player has a shield or a specific weapon that adds to their perry and the roll exceeds their Parry then it’s knocked out of the way by that specific weapon or armor.

Consider the Weapon

How does one attack with a broadsword? How does this differ from an Axe or Mace? A rapier for example is likely piercing the defender in a small point and they are being run through like a thousand little pin pricks. Where an axe is likely denting armor cracking it in half, or taking large chunks of flesh out of the defender. The weapon itself should be used to easily shape your descriptions.

Where does it hit?

Even if players aren’t making a called shot occasionally blows will hit some where that isn’t the chest. Likely armor will absorb most of the blow so it isn’t crippling, but consider that arms and legs do go in the ways of blows. Savage Worlds provides a handy chart for determining where damage is being dealt. Consider using it, or your own, to randomize the location of the damage.

What damage does it do to the enemy?

Obviously not every blow is going to lob off an arm or crush someones face in. But what about their skin or armor? How much battle damage has the enemey been taking? Is it dented, have a hole blasted into it, torn by the their foes blade? How much damage did the player roll? All of these little details add to a far more interesting description of the foe.

Have we missed anything that’s key to descriptions? Have any tips for others that might help describing attacks better? Let us know!