Martial duels

Dueling rules

(note: the rules were specifically taken from the sw5e site with some mild alterations)

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(mechanics note: the difference between a regular battle and a duel is that in a battle you have to focus on everything in your surroundings including your enemy while in a duel your focus is just on you and you enemy.)

DUELING mode (note: both combatants must agree to it otherwise it counts as a solo boss mode)

Dueling, is an iconic experience in the narrative. When you want to engage in a more narrative form of dueling, rather than traditional combat, consider the following rules.

OPPONENTS

Most often, dueling is an event suited only to two people. It might be a fight to the death, a fight for honor, or simply a fight to see who is better. Alternatively, it might simply be a sparring session. These rules are intended to potentially encompass all of these possibilities, but only for a traditional one versus one encounter.

STANCES 

Each round opens with stances. Each stance comes from a particular fighting style or technique which imparts a d4-8 to one of the three actions depending on the specifics. Then the fighters move to the action phase. (see sword dances and unarmed styles.)​

ACTIONS

There are three major actions a dueling character can take: Attack, Defend, or Feint. During each round of dueling, each involved party must decide which of these three actions they will take.

ATTACK

The most common action, a character can choose to attack. When a character chooses to attack, they have advantage on the attack roll during resolution if the opponent takes the Feint action, and disadvantage on the roll if the character takes the Defend action.

DEFEND

The second action a character can take is is to defend. When a character chooses to defend, they have advantage on the attack roll during resolution if the opponent takes the Attack action, and disadvantage on the roll if the character takes the Feint action.

FEINT

The third action a character can take is to feint. When a character chooses to feint, they have advantage on the attack roll during resolution if the opponent takes the Defend action, and disadvantage if the character takes the Attack action.

​(EXTRA ATTACK)

(If one party has the Extra Attack feature, and the other party doesn’t, consider allowing them to roll with an additional instance of advantage. )

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RESOLUTION

Once each party has chosen their action, they should each make an attack roll, with advantage or disadvantage as appropriate. The winner of the contest strikes a blow or scores a point, as appropriate.

(A natural 20 vs a natural 1 will result in an immediate victory for the winner)

TIES

Generally, ties should either award a point to both parties or no points to either party at the discretion of the GM.

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STRIKES

How many strikes a character can take varies based on the lethality of the contest. You might grant each party a potential three strikes if sparring, or you might give them each strikes equal to their Constitution modifier in a lethal contest, or even strikes equal to their proficiency bonus in a fight for honor.