While the Pathfinder 2e dueling rules work well for some situations, they really don't capture the highly regimented rulesets of a lot of real-life Dueling traditions. This idea has been kicking around in my head for a while, so today I am pulling the trigger (pun intended)!
Rules As Written
Before we get into my homebrew, let's take a quick look at the rules as they currently exist. They start by noting that Duels tend to be individual (though are sometimes in pairs), that they might limit weapons, use of magic, or other items like poisons, and that they tend to last either until first blood (hitting and dealing damage) or until one duelist is knocked out.
In terms of rules, the only difference between Duels and a normal combat are that you re-roll initiative each round, that you roll either Deception, Intimidation, or Perception, and that you get a special reaction based on what you rolled that has an extra benefit based on what your opponent did (Deception > Intimidation > Perception > Deception).
I used this system in Book 3 of Strength of Thousands, and found that the Initiative bonus didn't really end up mattering much, because the characters involved were only good at 1-2 of those options and they had better reactions to use. That won't be true for every Duel, but that is true of a lot of other PCs in my campaigns.
Simple Rulesets
While RAW Duels work fine for a particular type of fight, there are lots of styles that it doesn't work for! In this section, I'll outline several possibilities, though I won't go into any of them deeply until later sections.
Combat-Damage Variants
These variants use the RAW Dueling Initiative system above, with different thresholds for victory. They are best for duels meant to satisfy honor in situations without a clear system or referee.
- To The Pain. The Duel end when one participant is Bloodied. These Duels are meant for situations where honor must be satisfied and prowess shown, but Death should not be on the table.
- To The Floor. The Duel ends in one of three situations (see below), and are for situations where emotions are high and retribution is demanded, but participants would prefer not to risk death.
- One participant is knocked unconscious (usually a healer will be nearby to stabilize them).
- One participant is bloodied and knocked Prone.
- One participant is knocked Prone and does not stand up for two of their turns.
- Caller's Mercy. The Duel ends only when either the Duellist or their Caller (e.g. their Noble Lord or Slavemaster) cries mercy. The expectation is usually that fighters will give the Caller time to do so before finishing off their foe. This is almost as rare as To The Death, since fighters have been known to do some... unpleasant things to extract a mercy call.
- To The Death. The Duel ends when one participant is dead. In most cultures, these are for only the most dire of circumstances, or the most vile gladiatorial games.
In some variations on the above, the fight also ends if one participant is disarmed. In others, they're now just at a big disadvantage!
Because these systems rely on the normal combat rules, they can be used for any weapon set, though frequently (but not always) a weapon set will be agreed on ahead of time. Most frequently, Duels are only restricted to a broad category: Melee Weapons (sometimes restricting Reach vs. normal), Unarmed Strikes, Ranged Weapons, or Spellcasting. Occasionally, usually in Gladiatorial Arenas, there might be more specific restrictions on weapon combinations (see below).
One Roll Variants
This ruleset is designed to keep Duels nice and fast, either to a single roll or to a small number if they keep tying. The core mechanic is the roll off, where each side makes their Check and whoever rolls higher wins! You might vary this in one of a few ways:
- The winner might still need to beat their foes AC! If they win the roll off but don't hit, they stave off their foes attack, but need to roll again. They get a +2 on their next check.
- The winner might need to beat their opponent by 5 or 10, though winning by less might grant a +2 on their next check. This is great for when you aren't really doing a To The Touch duel, but instead abstracting a longer duel to a single roll and want a clear winner.
This variant is great either for abstracting duels when you don't want to spend time on them, or when dueling To The Touch, where the first successful Strike wins.
Ranged Duels are usually either To The Touch or one of the Combat-Damage Variants above, though you may want to introduce a slightly more complicated version (see below), rather than a strict One-Roll Duel.
Three (ish) Roll Variants
If you want slightly more complexity than a single roll, you might have a few!
In the first version of this, each side makes 3 Checks, all contested. This variant works best for melee combat.
- The first two are setup checks describing the overall approach to the fight. Usually, this will be 1. Deception or Acrobatics to feint/maneuver, 2. Intimidation or Athletics to bully, or 3. Perception or Society (or other relevant RK skill) to observe. Group 1 gets a +2 bonus vs. Group 2, which gets a +2 vs. Group 3, which gets a +2 vs. Group 1.
- Winning each set up round grants a +2 bonus on the final check, or a +4 if you win by 10 or more. These bonuses stack, so if you won the first and won the second by a lot, you'd have a +6 on the final check.
- Finally, you make a contested Strike roll. The winner wins the Duel! If they do so by 10 or more, they do so decisively or in a humiliating fashion of their choosing.
Ranged Duels will benefit instead from a round-by-round process, where each participant secretly makes a decision before revealing them at the same time. The first to make a successful Ranged Strike against their opponents AC (usually unarmored) wins. You have the following options:
- Shoot. Make a Ranged Strike with a -2 Circumstance Penalty. If you also took this action last round, you take a -5 Multiple Attack Penalty instead.
- Aim. Your next Ranged Strike is made with a +2 Circumstance Bonus instead of a -2 Penalty.
- Mercy. You safely discharge your weapon into the sky, maintaining your honor without threatening the other party.
Most Duels will be limited by number of shots, either one Pistol/Hand Crossbow or two. There's not a maximum number of rounds - instead, once you've fired your shots, you're done. Because participants tend to be unarmored and standing still, these duels often end up being much deadlier than hit points might suggest, and the GM might add more narrative injuries/consequences.
Point-Based Rulesets
In these rulesets, participants earn points, either for a set number of rounds for combat Duels (usually 5, though possible with 2-3 bouts of 5 rounds each) or to a point goal for skill challenge Duels (usually either 3, 5, or 7 depending on the type and intended length of the duel).
Melee Combat Duels
In these rulesets, participants fight a normal combat (possibly using the RAW Dueling Initiative), but instead of trying to reduce hit points, they fight for victory points!
- Strike. 1 point on a success, 2 on a Crit.
- Disarm. 3 points on a Crit.
Unarmed Combat Duels
This works just like the Melee duels, but unarmed fights usually place a heavier emphasis on grappling. As such, the points are adjusted as follows:
- Grab. 1 point on a success, 2 on a Crit.
- Strike. 2 points on a success, 4 on a Crit.
- Trip. 1 point on a success, 2 on a Crit.
Melee Skill Challenge Duels
For more formal duels with neatly prescribed systems (usually to 3, 5, or 7 points), the rules are as follows:
- Each player picks an action from the list below and then makes an opposed roll.
- If one player chooses an Action that is better against their opponent's choice, they get a +2 Circumstance Bonus to their roll.
- The winner gets the listed effect. On a tie, both parties get the listed effect.
- You cannot perform the same action two rounds in a row.
- All listed bonuses are Circumstance Bonuses. Listed Penalties are Circumstance Penalties.
Participants can choose from the following actions:
- Strike. Melee Attack Roll. Success 1 point. Crit 2 points. Better against Observe.
- Defend. Acrobatics Check. Success Target gets a -4 to their next Strike. Crit On their next 3 Strikes. Better against Strike.
- Demoralize. Intimidation Check. Success Target is Frightened 1. Crit Frightened 2. Better against Observe.
- Disarm. Athletics Check.* Success You get a +2 to Disarm checks, and the target gets a -2 to Strikes, until they spend an action regripping or drop the weapon. Better against Strike.
- Feint. Deception Check. Success You get +2 on your next Strike. Crit On your next 3 Strikes. Better against Defend.
- Observe. Perception OR Recall Knowledge Check. Success You can decide your next action after your opponent has revealed theirs. Crit Your next 3 actions. Better against Defend.
Many duelists will take Sly Disarm feat. In a culture where dueling is common, you might allow all characters to use Dexterity to disarm with finesse weapons (still using their Athletics proficiency), or let them use Thievery, at least in these prescribed duels.
Unarmed Skill Challenge Duels
This works exactly the same, but with two changes to existing, no more Disarm action, and two new actions. They are usually to 5, 7, or 9 points. The changes are as follows:
- Strike. Success 2 points. Crit 4 points.
- Defend. Better against Strike and Grab.
There are two new options replacing Disarm:
- Grab. Athletics Check. Success 1 point, and allows you to Trip. Crit 2 points. Better against Observe.
- Trip. Athletics Check. Special You must have the target Grabbed. Success 1 point, and grants you a +2 to Strike until they spend an action to stand. Crit 2 points.
Ranged Skill Challenges
Instead of shooting each other, participants in Ranged Skill Challenges must out compete each other by shooting a target! For actual Duels, I recommend either the Ranged Duels under One or Three (Ish) Rolls, or just fight a full Combat.
A Flurry Challenge requires the participants to hit a target as many times as they can in a set number of rounds (usually 3 or 5). This uses initiative, and participants can use whatever abilities they have to earn 1 point for each Success and 2 points for each Critical Success.
A Precision Challenge instead gives participants a set number of arrows. They can again use any class abilities they have, and there is no action limit per shot. Each round, participants earn 1 point for a successful Strike, +1 point for each 5 above the DC they roll. At the end of 3 or 5 arrows, the participant with the most points wins!
Magical Skill Challenges
Similarly, Magical Duels would either be Combats, or they would be less of a Duel and more of a Contest.
In a Magical Contest, participants alternate setting up a spell and then trying to counter it.
- The active spell must be one with clear visual effects that showcase what's happening, the flashier the better. Some traditions have further mandates, such as requiring spells to create a lasting effect and not to target the opponent, or to avoid mental spells that can't be seen (and therefore countered). Regardless, the important thing is that it should be clear both what the effect is / what's happening, and casters should automatically know the Rank of the spell they are trying to counter.
- The other participant must come up with a creative way to use their spells to counter it! In many traditions of dueling, this should be a spell that normally doesn't counteract things (like dispel magic or sound body).
- This follows the ordinary counteract rules, except that the GM is free to adjust the effective counteract level of the spell up or down by 2 based on how applicable it is (though they should discuss this with the PC first - the caster should have a sense of how applicable the spell will be before they cast it).
- Success counters the effect for 1 point, and a Critical Success does so convincingly enough to earn 2 points. (Because this is Counteracting, a higher-rank spell improves its degree of success by one, and a spell of 2 or 3 ranks lower lowers its degree of success by one.)
In cases where both parties earn the same number of points, the tie goes to whoever's magic was the most visually impressive, as determined by the GM.
For example, a Wizard might cast Floating Flame at Rank 3, to which a Druid responds with Create Water at Rank 1! Even though this spell would normally be too weak to counteract the Flaming Sphere, the GM might let it count as 1 rank higher because it has the water trait (Quench might count as 2 ranks higher here), allowing it to earn a point on a Success, rather than just a Critical Success.
Specific Dueling Traditions
To round out this article, here are some ideas for specific Dueling Traditions, including which category above they fall into and what restrictions they tend to come with.
Some systems above are pretty straightforward translations!
- Fencing is a Melee Skill Challenge Duel. If using real swords without protective gear, they might fight To The Touch instead.
- MMA Fights are Unarmed Skill Challenge Duels.
- Archery Contests are Ranged Skill Challenges.
- Pistols at Dawn would fall under Ranged Duels in the "Three (Ish) Rolls" section, likely with two pistols each.
Cavaliers of Noble Houses
This tradition is inspired by Gideon IX, though adapted to Pathfinder. In it, Cavaliers fight with a Rapier and Main-Gauche. For practice and shows of prowess, they fight To The Touch. For most tests of honor, they use a Melee Skill challenge. In rare cases, they might fight To The Floor or to Caller's Mercy, though these are considered relatively barbaric by society standards.
In Melee Skill Challenges, their choice of Main-Gauche has an impact on their options:
- Buckler. +2 Circumstance Bonus to Defend checks.
- Chain. +2 Circumstance Bonus to Demoralize checks.
- Gauntlet. +1 Circumstance Bonus to Defend and Disarm checks.
- Knuckle Knives. +1 Circumstance Bonus to Defend and Demoralize checks.
- Long Knife. They can attack in subsequent rounds, but take an increasing MAP until they take a round off.
- Powder. +2 Circumstance Bonus to Feint checks.
- Trident Dagger. +2 Circumstance Bonus to Disarm checks.
Ceremonial Gladiators
In certain ceremonial Gladiator arenas, fights can choose from several loadouts: Short Sword and Shield, Trident and Net, Spear and Buckler, or Whip and Buckler. Most will also have a backup dagger.
These fights tend to be normal combats, either To The Floor or Caller's Mercy, though trained and effective Gladiators are valuable enough that Caller's Mercy tends to be pretty close to To The Pain. Very occasionally, for special events or to satisfy their master's honor, these fights might be To The Death.
Knights In Shining Armor
Traditional Knights do two main types of Duel. The first is Jousting on Horseback, represented as a a mix of a Three-Roll Duel and a Point System. Each round, Knights roll Perception for aim, Fortitude for resilience, and a Melee Strike with a lance against their targets AC. Success grants 1 point (victory is usually at 3 points). If a Knight beats their opponents roll by at least 10, and would hit their AC, they unseat their foe and instantly win!
The second is fighting on foot. The exact weapons don't matter, as long as it's matched. For example, both Knights might wield two-handed reach weapons, or a single melee weapon, or a melee weapon and shield, but one Knight might wield a Sword and another a Hammer. These fights tend to be Combats to Caller's Mercy - specifically, continuing until one Knight yields! (Or until their Lord orders them to yield, if present.) In grave circumstances, or for particularly stubborn Knights, this means a Duel might go on for some time.
While Knights are generally expected to yield when defeated in one of these arenas, there is no hard requirement that they do so, and these Duels might therefore merge into each other! Knights might start a Duel by Jousting on horseback, and then move to Sword and Shield once one Knight is unhorsed (you might make the unhorsed Knight sickened or similar, or have the Knights retroactively take damage for each strike). If one Knight's Shield breaks, the other might throw theirs aside and finish the fight with just Swords (if they are honorable). If one Knight is disarmed but refuses to yield, it is up to their foe whether to let them pick up their sword, throw their own away and fight unarmed, or - if they are incredibly dishonorable, or the duel is very clearly won - finish them off.
Spell Slingers
In a weird-west pervasive-magic town, lesser mages are extremely common, as are grudges between them! Instead of dueling with pistols, crossbows, or blades, they duel with spells.
Most commonly, these are To The Touch duels, with each caster picking a damage-dealing spell to cast secretly, revealing picks at the same time, and then making a spellcasting check (if one spell has a clear advantage, its caster gains a +2 or +4) - the loser is likely to be badly injured, taking 10% of their HP in damage for each point they lost the roll-off by!
For more important duels, casters might be able to first cast one or two preparatory spells that cannot directly target their foe, but can either buff themselves or alter the battlefield before starting. They then take turns alternating spells, but any participant with the counterspell feat automatically counts as having the clever counterspell feat as well, and spells deal double damage since casters are standing relatively still. These Duels are typically To The Pain (at which point one participant is dramatically thrown backwards), though they may be To The Death in extreme circumstances.
Some times, things get more chaotic and sprawling, multi-participant brawls break out in the city streets! These are just combats, plain and simple, with no special rules - it's much easier to effectively counter your foe when there's only one of them to worry about!
Academy Mages
Magical students might duel to show prowess, or to practice for future careers! This is a Magical Skill Challenge with two variants: Official and Underground.
Official Duels see the participants create a persistent magical effect that does not target their foe (though their foe can counter it with an instantaneous effect). For example, Each participant casts 1 spell for a quick show or sparring match, or 3 for a more formal contest. If participants are tied after these initial rounds, they play one tiebreaker round. If that round is also a tie, a Judge makes a call on who's magic was the most visibly impressive.
Underground Duels have no such restrictions. Spells can be instantaneous (though for dramatic purposes, this doesn't affect how hard they are to counter), and they can target the opponent directly. Most commonly, participants will agree not to use mental-only spells, as they are harder to see coming and counter, but even this is up to the mercy of your opponent. Cruel or powerful duelists will often refuse such conditions, decrying their opponent as weak-willed.
That's all for today! What other dueling rulesets would you like to see? What are some fun ways to integrate duels into a campaign?
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