Unlocking 24XX: Combat

Combat in D&D follows a rigid, step-by-step sequence. In 24XX, combat facilitates fluid, immersive, cinematic moments. It's an approach that often puzzles newcomers before it liberates them.

If you’re new to 24XX, it’s normal for combat to feel a bit tricky to conceptualise. Unlike conventional RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, which come with detailed, step-by-step combat rules, 24XX offers a minimalist, flexible approach. This freedom is one of the system’s strengths, but it can leave newcomers feeling unmoored and disoriented. Even Jason Tocci, the creator of 24XX, includes an extended combat FAQ to help players and GMs understand how combat can play out and how it differs from more traditional systems.

Here’s the reason new players get stuck when considering trying a 24XX game: they don’t include much in the way of combat rules. While this simplicity encourages creativity and adaptability, it can also feel incredibly vague, making encounters feel too abstract to get a handle on. Without initiative orders or hit point tracking, how do you set the stakes? When do you roll, and what happens when you fail?

The lack of rules is not an insignificant barrier to entry and enjoyment, but overcoming this hurdle is easier than it might first appear. I hope this guide clarifies how 24XX handles combat, providing examples to show how the system prioritises narrative over numbers. Whether you’re a player or GM, I hope this walk-through will help you to confidently run encounters that are quick, exciting, and meaningful.

The Flow of Combat

In D&D-style systems, combat revolves around individual actions like sword swings or spellcasting, resolved in initiative order. Rolls often determine whether each specific attack lands, and tracking hit points helps determine how long a monster can survive.

24XX takes a broader, more cinematic approach that distinctive in at least 3 ways:

• The Focus is on Meaningful Actions: Instead of rolling for every swing or shot, you roll to resolve critical moments—often representing multiple actions in one.

• The Threat is Established Before Rolling: After a player declares an action, the GM establishes what’s at risk if the roll fails. This way, when a player decides to roll to take action, they know what’s at stake if they are unsuccessful.

• The Level of Combat Detail is Adjustable: Combat encounters can be resolved in one roll or through multiple steps, depending on the importance of the scene, the preference of the group, or even time constraints.

Once you become comfortable with these distinctives, they really do facilitate a satisfying gameplay flow and avoid the 60-minute whack-a-thon against a group of enemies where a string of bad attack rolls leads to a boring, prolonged encounter.

Combat Examples: Facing Two Trolls in a Forest

Here’s how combat might play out in 24XX, using three levels of granularity to show how encounters differ from conventional systems. In each case, the stakes are clearly defined before any dice are rolled. All three levels are granularity are “legit” within 24XX. It’s simply a matter of the preferences of your group, or what feels right given the context of the encounter (e.g., a single roll to determine the outcome of a clash between your group and the Big Bad Evil Guy is probably too efficient and will lack the gravitas that a climactic battle demands).

1. Single-Roll Resolution: Quick and Impactful
The party ambushes two trolls to protect a nearby village. After the plan is declared, the GM establishes the stakes:

• “In attempting to ambush the trolls, you’re risking not only revealing your position but making several members of your group vulnerable to a grievous injury!”

The Roll: The GM asks for a single roll to determine the encounter’s outcome. This could mean everyone who can attack rolls a relevant skill die with the highest number determining the group’s effectiveness.

Possible Outcomes:

• 1–2: The ambush fails. The trolls attack, grievously injuring (1d4) characters. Characters are hindered on all rolls until they are magically healed or experience a long rest.

• 3–4: One troll is killed, but the other manages to escape, leaving the village vulnerable to a future attack.

• 5+: Both trolls are defeated with no casualties, and the village is safe.

As you can see, this high-stakes battle is resolved extremely quickly, making it ideal for keeping the narrative moving.

2. Multi-Roll Resolution: Adding Drama
For a more dramatic encounter, break the combat into key moments, each with its own stakes.

Key Actions:
1. Ambush Setup: The rogue and ranger sneak into position.

• Threat: If the roll fails, the trolls notice them and gain the advantage.

• Roll Outcomes:

  • 1–2: The trolls detect the ambush, roaring and charging.

  • 3–4: The trolls are wary but don’t know the exact location of the attackers.

  • 5+: The trolls are completely unaware, giving the group a tactical edge. Your next attack roll is helped (1d6) due to this advantage.

2. Initial Strike: The fighter charges while the rogue strikes from behind.

• Threat: A failed roll means the trolls counterattack, injuring the fighter.

• Roll Outcomes:

  • 1–2: The attack misses, and the trolls retaliate, crushing the fighter under its great club. (The fighter might be able to break armor, sword, or shield to mitigate this killing blow to a temporary hindrance on their next roll).

  • 3–4: The attack lands but fails to take out the trolls, but they are temporarily stunned.

  • 5+: The attack lands solidly, wounding one troll and disorienting the other.

3. Finishing the Fight: The mage casts a spell to finish the trolls off.

• Threat: Failure causes the spell to hit a friendly target.

• Roll Outcomes:

  • 1–2: The spell’s firebolt strikes the righter, lighting him on fire to 3 seconds. (Fighter is now injured and maybe even dead depending on how deadly you want the setting to be!

  • 3–4: The spell weakens the trolls but doesn’t incapacitate them. Their attacks are slowed, allowing any skill roll used against them to be helped until the resolution of the combat.

  • 5+: The spell obliterates both trolls, ending the battle decisively.

This approach balances speed with tension, keeping players engaged without bogging down the action.

3. Step-by-Step Tactical Combat: Detailed and Cinematic
For groups who enjoy complex, tactical encounters, break combat into smaller steps with layered threats.

Step 1: Avoid Detection

• Threat: Failure means the trolls notice and gain an advantage.

• Roll Outcomes:

  • 1–2: The trolls spot the group and take a defensive position.

  • 3–4: The trolls sense something but can’t locate the group.

  • 5+: The group approaches undetected.

Step 2: Disabling the Trolls

• Threat: Failure allows the trolls to use the terrain to their advantage or escape outright.

• Roll Outcomes:

  • 1–2: The trolls overpower the group’s attempts to trap them and retreat into the woods.

  • 3–4: One troll is partially disabled, but the other fights back.

  • 5+: Both trolls are caught off guard, making them vulnerable.

Steps 3-?: Blow-by-Blow

• The players must land X number of successful hits on the Trolls in order to kill them both (GM decides 3 hits each troll.

  • With each roll, the threat is: the trolls retaliate violently, severely injuring a party member.

• Roll Outcomes:

  • 1–2: The attack misses, and the trolls counterattack.

  • 3–4: The attack creates one wound on a troll.

  • 5+: The attack is successful, creating two wounds on one troll, or one wound to both.

  • Repeat until the trolls or party is routed, decides to retreat, surrender, etc.

This approach allows for strategic thinking and gives every player a moment to shine as their character leverages their respective skills, strengths, and powers/spells.

Making Monsters More Formidable

How do you make monsters more formidable? To increase the challenge of any encounter, you can:

1. Increase Risks: Make failed rolls more punishing, such as by inflicting severe damage or escalating the threat. Hit by a goblin’s club? Knocked down. Hit by a pyromancer’s spell? Burned to a crisp (unless wearing magical armor)!

2. Boost Defences: Require players to overcome additional obstacles before their attacks can succeed. The trolls in the example above may have thick skin and hide armor that can be broken 1x each to negate all incoming non-magical damage.

3. Add Steps: Split the fight into more phases, requiring multiple rolls to inflict significant damage or land a killing blow.

These three “dials” can be turned up or down to best align with the significance of your table’s current narrative moment. But overall you’ll be rolling in combat far fewer times than in D&D, which will make each more suspenseful and consequential.

24XX’s Flex

The flexibility of 24XX combat allows GMs to scale encounters to suit the story and players’ preferences. Whether you want a quick resolution or a nail-biting tactical showdown, the system prioritises:

• Meaningful Stakes: Every roll matters, with clearly defined risks tied to every roll.

• Narrative Flow: The story drives combat, not rigid mechanics.

• Creative Problem-Solving: Players are encouraged to think outside the box and collaborate on unique solutions.

24XX combat strips away the noise to focus on what matters: the story, the stakes, and the creativity of the players. Whether you’re stopping trolls in a forest or outmanoeuvring space pirates, this system makes every encounter as exciting as the narrative you’re telling.

Let me know: Did this clarify 24XX’s approach to combat for you? Are there any other lingering questions you’d like me to specifically address in an upcoming post?