Can a pistol not kill you in one shot?
- Thread starter kaladorn
- Start date
Bill Coffin
SOC-7
This is pretty much the way I've always played it, with the addition that even if your other two physical stats are untouched, you're bleeding pretty badly, and if left there, you'll eventually bleed to death. That works pretty well for me, since, say, you've got a guy whose AGI gets zeroed in a single shot. He's out for a little bit, but he can be woken up, I suppose, and even thogh he can't move, he can still brace himself and shoot for as long as he can keep his eyes open. In my games, we sometimes fudge this a little bit, but it seems to work pretty well.
BTW, the inability for a single shot to kill folks ouright in this game is something I've reserved for PCs and boss-level characters. Grunts, thugs, mooks and the like I usually rule as dead if they lose only two stats (if mid-level_ or only one stat (if they're truly expendable henchmen). This has been a pretty easy way to make combat more cinematic, when we've wanted to run it that way.
Also, the way the rules are written encourages combat-minded characters to resort to heavier weapons for more lethality, which is where adventuring on high law level worlds makes things interesting. Sure, your merc with Cbt Rifleman 3 can rock the house with his gauss rifle, but what's he going to do when armed with a body pistol?
Bill Coffin
SOC-7
This is pretty much the way I've always played it, with the addition that even if your other two physical stats are untouched, you're bleeding pretty badly, and if left there, you'll eventually bleed to death. That works pretty well for me, since, say, you've got a guy whose AGI gets zeroed in a single shot. He's out for a little bit, but he can be woken up, I suppose, and even thogh he can't move, he can still brace himself and shoot for as long as he can keep his eyes open. In my games, we sometimes fudge this a little bit, but it seems to work pretty well.
BTW, the inability for a single shot to kill folks ouright in this game is something I've reserved for PCs and boss-level characters. Grunts, thugs, mooks and the like I usually rule as dead if they lose only two stats (if mid-level_ or only one stat (if they're truly expendable henchmen). This has been a pretty easy way to make combat more cinematic, when we've wanted to run it that way.
Also, the way the rules are written encourages combat-minded characters to resort to heavier weapons for more lethality, which is where adventuring on high law level worlds makes things interesting. Sure, your merc with Cbt Rifleman 3 can rock the house with his gauss rifle, but what's he going to do when armed with a body pistol?
In a sense, MT is an update of AHL/Striker... <GD&R>
Seriously, tho', MT does use the AHL/Striker Pen in a different way, which is, to my mind, a major improvement. The interrupt stuff can be teken or left... </font>[/QUOTE]And BITS' At Close Quarters lists both Snapshot and AHL as strong influences. Having recently looked at my copy it's a very good system and if you don't wory about actions, it can be used to handle even the small firefights most Traveller games produce.
- Neil.
In a sense, MT is an update of AHL/Striker... <GD&R>
Seriously, tho', MT does use the AHL/Striker Pen in a different way, which is, to my mind, a major improvement. The interrupt stuff can be teken or left... </font>[/QUOTE]And BITS' At Close Quarters lists both Snapshot and AHL as strong influences. Having recently looked at my copy it's a very good system and if you don't wory about actions, it can be used to handle even the small firefights most Traveller games produce.
- Neil.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
My favourite action system for handling small scale alteractions is still Friday Night Firefight from the first edition Cyberpunk rules. If you can get a copy to read through then you can summarise the action system on an index card and use Traveller for everything else(to hit rolls, damage etc.).
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
My favourite action system for handling small scale alteractions is still Friday Night Firefight from the first edition Cyberpunk rules. If you can get a copy to read through then you can summarise the action system on an index card and use Traveller for everything else(to hit rolls, damage etc.).
FNFF (I have that!) from 1st ed. CP was pretty good, except I think it put too much emphasis on the ability to dodge bullets (in that IIRC a large part of your defensive modifiers was based off your agility-type attributes). I might be misrecalling, but at the time, I thought it was a good system.
MT is a pretty good system. My main grip with MT probably has more to do with the range bands than any other single part. Range bands of 5m, 50m, 250m, then 5km (if I got them right) leaves out a lot of ground between 250m and 5km.... (in that many weapons should have effective ranges of 300-800m, but nowhere near 5km).
MT is a pretty good system. My main grip with MT probably has more to do with the range bands than any other single part. Range bands of 5m, 50m, 250m, then 5km (if I got them right) leaves out a lot of ground between 250m and 5km.... (in that many weapons should have effective ranges of 300-800m, but nowhere near 5km).
FNFF (I have that!) from 1st ed. CP was pretty good, except I think it put too much emphasis on the ability to dodge bullets (in that IIRC a large part of your defensive modifiers was based off your agility-type attributes). I might be misrecalling, but at the time, I thought it was a good system.
MT is a pretty good system. My main grip with MT probably has more to do with the range bands than any other single part. Range bands of 5m, 50m, 250m, then 5km (if I got them right) leaves out a lot of ground between 250m and 5km.... (in that many weapons should have effective ranges of 300-800m, but nowhere near 5km).
MT is a pretty good system. My main grip with MT probably has more to do with the range bands than any other single part. Range bands of 5m, 50m, 250m, then 5km (if I got them right) leaves out a lot of ground between 250m and 5km.... (in that many weapons should have effective ranges of 300-800m, but nowhere near 5km).
She should of had her mouth slighty open to equalise the pressure....but then having re-read how you describe the incident, if it blew her chair over, she was going to get pressure wave injuries anyway and the concussion would have been from both pressure wave and physical contact with the ground.
Tough call and someone should have got a "rocket" for it.
She should of had her mouth slighty open to equalise the pressure....but then having re-read how you describe the incident, if it blew her chair over, she was going to get pressure wave injuries anyway and the concussion would have been from both pressure wave and physical contact with the ground.
Tough call and someone should have got a "rocket" for it.
Over the years, I've come to find Traveller's damage system pretty nearly perfect for a character-oriented game. The rarity of instant death allows characters to remain in play for a long time; the likelihood of becoming hors de combat and possibly hospitalized makes combat a non-trivial choice.
Lack of clarity in the rules led my group to apply the "first blood" rule on any "to hit" roll of doubles. This eventually became a "double on doubles" rule.
Doubling a pistol's damage to 4D, even with the "first blood" rule, still isn't likely to kill. However, it will often reduce two stats to zero — which in our games generally meant several weeks in hospital.
With rifles, shotguns, chainsaws, etc. — 3D or 4D doubled to 6D or 8D — the rule gave roughly a 1 in 6 chance of getting killed with a single hit.
Even a much lower frequency could put the kibosh on p.c. longevity, if gunplay figures at all prominently in the campaign.
As things stand, there are many old Travellers, and many bold Travellers, but not many old, bold Travellers.
Lack of clarity in the rules led my group to apply the "first blood" rule on any "to hit" roll of doubles. This eventually became a "double on doubles" rule.
Doubling a pistol's damage to 4D, even with the "first blood" rule, still isn't likely to kill. However, it will often reduce two stats to zero — which in our games generally meant several weeks in hospital.
With rifles, shotguns, chainsaws, etc. — 3D or 4D doubled to 6D or 8D — the rule gave roughly a 1 in 6 chance of getting killed with a single hit.
Even a much lower frequency could put the kibosh on p.c. longevity, if gunplay figures at all prominently in the campaign.
As things stand, there are many old Travellers, and many bold Travellers, but not many old, bold Travellers.
Over the years, I've come to find Traveller's damage system pretty nearly perfect for a character-oriented game. The rarity of instant death allows characters to remain in play for a long time; the likelihood of becoming hors de combat and possibly hospitalized makes combat a non-trivial choice.
Lack of clarity in the rules led my group to apply the "first blood" rule on any "to hit" roll of doubles. This eventually became a "double on doubles" rule.
Doubling a pistol's damage to 4D, even with the "first blood" rule, still isn't likely to kill. However, it will often reduce two stats to zero — which in our games generally meant several weeks in hospital.
With rifles, shotguns, chainsaws, etc. — 3D or 4D doubled to 6D or 8D — the rule gave roughly a 1 in 6 chance of getting killed with a single hit.
Even a much lower frequency could put the kibosh on p.c. longevity, if gunplay figures at all prominently in the campaign.
As things stand, there are many old Travellers, and many bold Travellers, but not many old, bold Travellers.
Lack of clarity in the rules led my group to apply the "first blood" rule on any "to hit" roll of doubles. This eventually became a "double on doubles" rule.
Doubling a pistol's damage to 4D, even with the "first blood" rule, still isn't likely to kill. However, it will often reduce two stats to zero — which in our games generally meant several weeks in hospital.
With rifles, shotguns, chainsaws, etc. — 3D or 4D doubled to 6D or 8D — the rule gave roughly a 1 in 6 chance of getting killed with a single hit.
Even a much lower frequency could put the kibosh on p.c. longevity, if gunplay figures at all prominently in the campaign.
As things stand, there are many old Travellers, and many bold Travellers, but not many old, bold Travellers.
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