Updates to the Opposed Rolls Combat System

Originally I wanted to write an article just on "sword dance", but I figured I'd add some more stuff to it. This article will therefore be made up of a couple short ideas.

Sword Dance

The secret to a combat that changes all the time is to make stuff change all the time. And the simplest way to change the circumstances always is to add motion.

When you attack another creature, you can choose to attempt entering its space. The opponent can decide as part of its reaction whether it stays in its space, or moves away from you (some reactions can allow for a movement in different directions), letting you enter it. If it stays in its space, you gain a [substantial] bonus to your attack roll. If it leaves, it must enter an adjacent space, and it is still attacked.

Extra mini rule: When someone reacts by dodging, they must actually move to an adjacent space. Yes, you could in theory duck or something, but making that an option will only be another element keeping a battle static.

What the [substantial] bonus would be depends on playtesting.

Fighting in a constant motion is way more interesting than standing in places smacking each other with weapons.
Screenshot from the movie Princess Bride.

Regarding the Opportunity Attacks

I gave this a lot of thought, and the best way to avoid the opportunity attacks seems to be letting you freely leave the presence of a foe you attacked in this turn, assuming they didn't counter-attack. Think of it this way: you attack them, they decide to go into a defensive stance, and now you surprise them by running away. Before they realize what's going on, you're off. Simple!

Non-lethal Combat

Now this one might sound silly at a glance. What the heck do I mean by non-lethal? I have an issue with an anticlimactic character death due to a random encounter that has nothing to do with the main story. I had a chat on this recently with a dude named Rachayz on Discord, and I realized something - why have hit points in a fight that you can't lose anyway? Let it cost you something else. I mean, it could still cost you some hit points, but "losing" this fight should give you some handicap while winning it could grant you some benefit. How powerful this benefit/handicap is and how long it lasts depends entirely on how difficult the encounter is to conquer. If you meet a single goblin, it could be something you get over in a day. If someone sends after you the Cerberian Hellhounds with a boss fight bar and all, you might not be able to walk for the rest of your life.

I've kept this article as a draft for weeks at this point. I don't know if there's anything I can add to it at the moment, it's just a couple of unrelated ideas that I want to put out there so I can move on to processing other ideas. I might make this into an actual RPG eventually, just as an experiment.

Thank you for reading, and have a great day!