Dungeons and Dragons – Descriptive Combat Using Real World Fighting Techniques
Hello again my loyal Nerdarchists. As I have mentioned on numerous videos I have done years worth of combat with the historical fighting style of the German Longsword. Having knowledge of how an actual sword fight can go can make describing combat scenes and maneuvers far more interesting and realistic.
Over the years of study I have used several historic manuals. You can use the Knightly Art of the Sword by Ringeck. This is a great book that not only has the text with corresponding artwork showing the sword-work in motion, but it also has the original German so you can see how it translated. And if you are fluent in German you can read it as it was originally written.
How do You Use Descriptive Combat in Dungeons and Dragons?
With the German longsword a parry is often a strike at the same time and with certain sword swings he who cuts first dies in the parry. Other important tips for you to know is though a sword is solid metal it is flexible and it will bend. An executed block done poorly can still allow you to get your bell wrung as one of my friends can tell you.
Should you prefer to use more sword and shield work you can use Medieval Sword and Shield, commonly among 
practitioners as MS 1.33. This is a guide to real world fighting techniques of the sword and shield combat. While the group I have trained with considered itself a study group with no one really in charge, typically the more experienced lead the classes. After some time people had interest in learning to do sword and shield combat properly but no one wanted to do the research.
Of the six active students we had two books. So I, being an owner of the book, decided I would study and teach the class. For a solid six months we worked our way through the book using drills we knew and created others that would get our arms coordinating movements.
The trick with a smaller shield is to use it as cover when you make a strike. You can use the shield in a punch to push your opponents weapon off lie allowing you to make a strike in that spot or to feint so that he creates another opening for you to exploit.
Weapon play or combat in general can be tiring for the non-seasoned veteran and typically in Dungeons and Dragons your hit point pool is not how many times you can get stabbed in the guts and keep fighting, it is a pool of your endurance and your resolve in a combat situation. One they run out the last strike is the one that actually got you.
Try boxing or any martial arts for a few rounds if you are not in shape you will be breathing hard real fast. You will move slower and make mistakes. Not fighting every week like I used to shows me that you need to keep training or it goes away.
Do You Know More Real World Fighting Techniques You Can Use in RPGs?
Now many of the techniques in these books focus on sword work but some of it can be applied to other weapons that operate in the same way. Most of you are not going to carry a sword around in your car but a steel pipe offers the same protection, so why not use the same techniques for an axe, club, mace or warhammer? If they are held the same way you can use these to make your combat sound so much more exciting.
But what if you want more options. Let me show you Codex Wallerstein. This book, while it has more sword work in it, also has dagger and wrestling. It has maneuvers for polearm and spear. Between the three books over 800 pages worth of combat information and many pictures describing how it looks in various stages of the movement.
If you want your combat to be more memorable and not be the grand gestures that you see on the big screen but be more like the way actual combat looks invest in practical fighting books or join a group and learn them yourself. Your Dungeons and Dragons game or any Role playing group can benefit descriptive combat.
You too can use real world fighting techniques in your Dungeons and Dragons game. Thanks for reading and Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy!
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