Combat revision?

[universaldave]

Hi... this is my first post here.

I haven't refereed Traveller in many years. I bought the new book intending to referee a campaign of my own making. I think I like what I see, although it is hard to understand at times, and I can't know for sure without testing it out. I even, at first glance, like the combat better than Mongoose combat. It just seems more comprehensive--and a bit less "deadly", which I like. But again, I haven't played it out yet.

I am reading here that combat is being revised entirely... what are the issues? What do you think the best option is to create my own "home-brew" version of it, since I doubt the rewrite will come any time soon. Or is it due soon?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[David Johansen]

I think rob was saying that the combat revision was mostly done at this point.

It will be pretty comprehensive. As it stands combat is a bit of a mess. Lots of1d attack rolls with -9 to hit. Damage types that have little to no impact on game play. Weapons that can't even hurt unarmoured npcs.

The quick patch set I'd use at my table would be to make Penetrate divide armor by two. Assume armor doesn't disintegrate the until all damage for the round is assessed unless there's a first shooter situation. Armor disintegrates by hit location though with explosions, plasma and nukes it's all pretty much the same. NPCs are eliminated by 4 points of damage not ten.

For melee assume close range = 1d task and "cover" as "parrying". Blade Maker Penetrate values are in points not dice. Unarmed Damage is Flux + Strength + Brawling - 7.

 

[universaldave]

If Rob reads this, perhaps the combat section could be released now... since it is said to be done and appears to be the section most in need of replacing?

Otherwise and, perhaps regardless of that, I'm starting to feel like I may need to back away and go with Mongoose for now. My players are not very familiar with Traveller at all so it might be way too much work to not only get used to T5 myself but somehow make it easily understandable to them... all the while compiling house rules as well!

Let no-one think I I'm saying I regret buying T5, though. Traveller is not like D&D where they seemingly make money no matter what they put out. So if my money helps Traveller continue, and helps make a revised T5 edition possible, then I'm glad to have helped.

 

[DonM]

I'm not Rob, but I'll discuss this with Marc...

 

[universaldave]

Thanks... that would be great.

 

[robject]

This is Rob. Note that if you've got Don's attention, you're in good hands.

I've run the combat rules as written in the book, and found them reasonable. I especially like the rule on suppressing fire, but overall the thing is ok.

The concept in general is very good in my non-expert opinion, and that doesn't change with the revision. The biggest change I've noticed is that the text in the revision is clearer, and has a couple of additional bits that are useful, such as falling damage. Another change is that fire suppression is a bit less powerful, which is ok by me.

 

[universaldave]

That is interesting, Rob. Perhaps I should go ahead and run some combat scenarios and see what my experience is. Of course if a rewrite was done to make things more clear, that's always a good thing! Since my players are totally new to Traveller I have decided to go with the Mongoose rules, as I can share those books with them without a lot of extra work or explanation. Maybe, after everyone is comfortable, and several adventures are completed, we might graduate to T5.

 

[Epee]

I seem to recall someone saying something about PEN damage being clarified? Has anything been done with that?