Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Fumbles

Swords & Wizardry Complete references the possibility of fumbles (see page 40 of the rulebook). I'm not sure that fumbles are worthwhile, and mechanically they disadvantage characters or monsters that make multiple attacks per round. But I have used fumbles in some of my games in the past. Below is one potential fumble rule.

Fumbles

Whenever a character or monster rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll, the attack misses even if it otherwise would hit based on his or its THAC0 score and any relevant bonuses or modifiers. The attacker also must roll a d6 and consult the chart below.

1. attacker drops weapon or is disarmed; unless he is handed a weapon by another or has another at hand, he must spend the next round retrieving this weapon or another
2. attacker strains muscle or sustains some other minor injury; for the duration of the combat, he suffers a -1 penalty to all attack and damage rolls (but not to any other rolls)
3. attacker’s helm is damaged or displaced or attacker gets blood in his eyes; he suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls until he spends a round to clear his obstructed vision
4. attacker loses his footing and falls down; he must spend the next round scrambling to avoid attacks while regaining his footing (or else act from the ground with penalties)
5. attacker is knocked off balance or outmaneuvered; his opponent has a +1 bonus to his next attack roll against the attacker (attack must be made no later than next round)
6. attacker recklessly blunders and strikes a nearby ally for half damage; if there is no ally nearby, then the attacker instead manages to inflict half damage on himself

At the DM's discretion, fumble results for characters or monsters that make multiple attacks per round may be modified. For example, a fumble may simply result in the loss of one of these multiple attacks in the following round.

This fumble chart is a modified version of the fumble rule contained in Jimm Johnson's Planet Eris house rules.