What’s A Duel?

For our purposes, a duel is any fight that takes place between a PC and one humanoid enemy armed with a weapon of some kind. It doesn’t begin, though, until the two combatants have actually engaged in melee. Don’t begin using these rules, including the special initiative system below, until this happens.

Generally, it’s not worth the extra time and effort to use the dueling rules unless the enemy is close to the PC’s own skill level; if the hero can clean the villain’s clock within a round or two, don’t bother to use these rules.

Duels are best saved for confrontations with major NPC villains. If more than one character or creature is engaged on either side, the fight doesn’t count as a duel anymore; the subtleties of attack and defense are quickly lost when several combatants become involved. The DM has the authority to declare that a duel has turned into a normal melee whenever he sees fit.

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