That's what I do, pretty much. It can be adapted to encounters involving more than two people by just stating a turn sequence OOCly beforehand. It also helps if there's some kind of HP system to know when a character is unable to continue the fight. Something simple like "each character has 5 hit points, meaning they can only sustain 5 hits before being defeated". More complex systems don't really work without organization and, the moment you do stablish a system for combat, you are basically making a tabletop RPG. Which doesn't really have anything wrong with it, except you won't be able to use it with strangers. Simply because a complex system requires introductions, notes and explanations. You lack the time to do all those when dealing with strangers. Even if you had the time chances are they won't like the idea of investing their time into learning an RP combat system.
For that reason, simplicity is best. Stablish turns (whomever initiated combat goes first), then his target. If there's more people involved, have them "Roll for Initiative". Then it's just a back and forth of actions and reactions. The (to hit) success threshold should be the same for everyone unless they are trying to do something that isn't in their expertise: like a character with no martial training trying to use a bow.
Combat rules can get more complex if it's an scheduled RP event instead of 'on the field' RP. I'd say you still need to keep the system real simple in those cases, because people might be turned off if it gets too complex.
For that reason, simplicity is best. Stablish turns (whomever initiated combat goes first), then his target. If there's more people involved, have them "Roll for Initiative". Then it's just a back and forth of actions and reactions. The (to hit) success threshold should be the same for everyone unless they are trying to do something that isn't in their expertise: like a character with no martial training trying to use a bow.
Combat rules can get more complex if it's an scheduled RP event instead of 'on the field' RP. I'd say you still need to keep the system real simple in those cases, because people might be turned off if it gets too complex.
![[Image: DWv3oGi.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/DWv3oGi.jpg)
