Codex Martialis: Historical Combat

This is the same book previously sold as “Codex Martialis: Core Rules”. This book contains the combat rules for the Codex Integrum series.

Combat mechanics in the service of narrative

Codex Martialis is designed to engage that feeling of being in a brawl, so that combat can more seamlessly become part of the story. Whether your RPG is about ‘armed hobos’ kicking in dungeon doors, or heroic avatars of good and evil battling it out in the clouds, CM helps you to tell your story, up to and including the bloody bits, while retaining a sense of immersion and agency. Using Codex, you can emphasize attack, defense, or maneuver just like you would with a sword in your hand. Your choices of kit and training affect how you fight, and are part of the story.

Combat is drama, it is an acceleration of a story, an escalation of tension, it should not stop the story or become a detour. It should add to the story, Intensify it. By making a careful analysis of real fighting techniques, weapons, and historical armor, and how these elements interplay, we created combat rules which were bring this all together in an intuitive manner. To let the gamer experience some of the natural flow of decision making, dilemmas, and innovation which can take place in a fight.

This is the complete core rules for combat using the Codex Martialis system, with new sections including horses and mounted combat, OGL Feats compatability charts, sample characters, sample animals, and new optional combat rules. For more rules related to character generation and historical gaming, see the Codex Integrum Player’s Guide.