From: gharris@Jade.Tufts.EDU
Date: Wed 23 Jun 1993 - 22:49:15 EEST
I thought I'd throw out some thoughts on the various
DAMAGE BONUS & NATURAL ARMOR
Personally, I think the revised damage bonus chart as in
As to having some form of natural armor or resistance to
THE COMBAT ROUND
Am I the only one who really detests the new combat
things being done with combat.
the v2.0 draft is nearly ideal. The jumps aren't as large, and
they're at more natural places. It will result in larger damage
bonuses for exceptionally large and/or strong creature, but it
doesn't really matter if the giant does 75 points or only 50,
does it? I would be opposed to going to a fixed value damage
bonus. First, I like the variability that the die roll gives.
This at least gives a chance of surviving if you miss your parry
against that Great Troll, and there's a certain feeling about
rolling lots and lots of dice. Secondly (and I'm surprised no
one has at least mentioned this in passing) we would have to
redefine the effects of a crush. I don't know about you, but I'm
not too excited about getting the maximum value of a constant. I
say, what's currently in the draft is fine.
damage based on some combination of SIZ, STR or CON, well, I
think it would cause more problems than it would solve. We would
have to address how it's cumulative with worn armor, how does it
affect slashing, crushing and impaling weapons, etc. etc.
Moreover, with the combat system having been overhauled to make
getting killed more difficult already, this might lead to nearly
invulnerable characters. I say leave it out.
round? I find the flat ceiling of two actions for every
character regardless of speed or ability to be repulsively
democratic. You could have your elf with Quickdraw Arrow 95%
and a Dex of 20, and then a trollkin with Quickdraw Slingbullet
95% and a Dex of 10, and a human shaman with a dex of 8 casting
Protection 3. SR1, the elf draws and fires. The trollkin is
getting his slingbullet out and will fire in SR3. The shaman is
preparing to cast the spell. In SR3, the trollkin fires his
sling, and the shaman begins casting. SR4 the elf fires his
second arrow. For the rest of the round the elf stands there,
tapping his foot, unable to do anything while everyone else gets
finished with their actions. Finally, in SR9, the trollkin gets
his second sling bullet off, and then in SR10, the shaman finally
gets his spell off. Only then, after standing around waiting for
more time than he actually was doing anything, can the elf so
much as draw another arrow.
I say, if someone is fast, let them do as much as they
can. I think some of the changes are in the right direction (I
never played that one couldn't parry while casting a spell), but
I really dislike the two action rule.
Here's what I would propose. It's maybe a little more
Basically, you have three options. You can take two
If you are taking two attacks, you cannot dodge or parry.
complicated, but it gives fast characters an advantage, which I
feel they certainly deserve, without screwing things up
immensely.
attacks, one attack and one defensive action, or just two
defensive actions.
You take whichever attack you choose to first. Your second
attack comes three strike ranks after that. If you have
sufficient strike ranks left in the round, you could move (if
unengaged), or cast a spell (taking three strike ranks in
addition to the time to cast the spell [this isn't as absurd as
it sounds. A Siz 20 Dex 20 character with a Pike could attack
twice by SR4, giving enough time to cast a 2-point spirit magic
spell])
If you are taking one attack and one defensive option,
you declare an opponent you will parry or dodge (how specific you
have to be is open to debate). In addition, you *may* make one
attack. You may cast a spell either before or after the attack
if you have the strike ranks, and you may move if unengaged after
the attack. You may also elect not to attack, and use all your
strike ranks for movement of spellcasting (or both
simultaneously, even).
If you take two defensive options, then you declare two
attacks/opponents that you will dodge or parry. You can do
nothing else.
So, you have a sequence of actions you can take (if you
have time), including none, one or two attacks, and if not taking
two attacks you can also defend. If you chose, you can just
defend, and defend against two attacks. If casting a spell that
is not complete by the end of the round, just continue in the
next round (unless you take the defend-twice option, in which
case the spell is aborted), attacking after the spell is cast (if
you have time).
Missile weapons: give us back the old rates of fire for
missile weapons! You can draw and fire a c. bow in one round.
You can draw and fire a heavy crossbow in one round. Right. I
say, some weapons you can fire once a round, some take more than
one round, some you can fire more than once a round, and higher
Dex characters fire these faster. The general opinion of the
campaign I'm currently in is that the new missile weapon rules
bite big time.
So, let me illustrate with an example.
Principals: Drang, a Siz 20 Dex 18 Troll with a troll
maul, Dex SR2, Melee SR2, Attacks with the maul in SR3. Knute, a
Siz 10 Dex 14 human with a bastard sword, Dex SR3, Melee SR 5,
attacks with the sword in SR6. Haralt, a Siz 15 Dex 10 human
with a longspear, Dex SR3, Melee SR4, attacks with the longspear
in 5.
Haralt and Knute are double teaming Drang. Drang
declares he will attack first Knute, then Haralt. Knute will
parry and attack, then start casting a 3-point spirit magic
spell. Haralt will cast an eight-point Drain Life at Drang, and
parry.
SR 3, Drang attacks Knute, Knute parries. In SR 6
Drang will attack Haralt and Knute will attack Drang. Drang has
the higher Dex, so he attacks first, and Haralt parries. Knute
then attacks Drang. In SR9, Knute starts casting his spirit
magic spell, which will take 6SR, so it will go off in SR5 of
next round. Haralt's Drain life will take 3+8=11 SRs to cast, so
it will go off in SR1 of the next round, and he can then attack
in SR 1+3+5=9. Drang, if he hasn't been taken down by Knute's
attack and Haralt's spell, will get a normal sequence next round.
Dex Dex SR
1-10 4
11-15 3
16-20 2
21+ 1
Dex+Siz Melee SR
1-15 7
16-20 6
21-25 5
26-30 4
31-35 3
36-40 2
41+ 1
This way, the breaks would be at the same places they are
for the armor size chart and the (current) damage bonus table.
Also, since 21 is human maximum Dex, it makes sense for it to
mean something. Of course, you shouldn't make this change unless
you allow Siz and/or Dex to contribute more than 20 points, since
otherwise no one would have a Melee SR of 1.
I like the new Hit Point/Location "table". I always
thought the three-point bands were clunky and inelegant. Having
it be a simple divide, round up is much more intuitive.
What else? Oh, yes. What exactly can a character who
has taken more than twice the hit points in a non-vital location
do? Can she cast healing magic on that location? Can she first
aid that location? If she does first aid that location, can she
does anything else after she does? That is, do the effects of
such damage extend after the first aid, or is the person then
considered able to do anything that doesn't really require the
location, e.g. cast spells etc., although probably at a minus?
The rules seem to imply that the *only* thing such a
character can do is first aid the location, and that such first
aid only stops bleeding, so thereafter the character can take no
action until someone else heals her. Is this a correct
interpretation?
More later,
-- gharris@jade.tufts.edu George W. Harris "He'd kill us if he had the chance." Dept. of Mathematics Tufts University The Conversation 0,,
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