T5.09-rob-7 Combat

[robject]

I've fooled around with a "revision" to combat on my own, because I like fiddling with things. I had no direction and as a result went through six variations of a revision. At the end of all that, I finally took a step back and tried to understand what T5.00 and .09 were attempting. Here's what I've concluded.

T5.09 tries to be a simulation. The main indicator of this is the short combat rounds, plus accounting for every shot fired by rolling the dice. I believe there are other indicators, and that the writers had this consciously in mind when they wrote it. They did also beef up edge cases nicely, I might add.

T5.00 tries to focus on decisions. The main indicators are the long combat rounds, and the meaningful decisions encoded in the various attack mods.

Though Traveller tends to be hard simulationist SF, yet FATEFUL player character heavy elements such as char gen and yes, even skill use, tends to focus more on decision making. It's still simulation-ISH, but that takes a back seat to making interesting decisions.

So, that's how combat should work.

 

[robject]

Preference: no hit locations.

One reason is because I think it goes too far. We already allocate damage against characteristics, and I think that's a good compromise between hit points and hit locations.

Another reason is that we already have to have a "all locations/no particular location" damage mechanic for area effect-style damage. It's a minor loss of simulation in favor of less rules to use one damage mechanic for both of these effects.

A final consideration is what i think of as a negative one: referees can EASILY add on their favorite hit location rules. But this cuts both ways: referees like me will IGNORE hit location rules.

 

[robject]

In my own combat rules attempts, I made combat stance a simple matter or adjusting task difficulty. Aiming removes one die of difficulty but you lose initiative - actually you spend this whole round aiming, and shoot it he next round. On the other end, SnapFire was more difficult but gave you more attacks, not unlike T5.09.

I suspect that Marc's intent was more subtle. First off, his rules appear WRONG - and yet, there might be some method to his madness.

 

[pendragonman]

Preference: no hit locations.

One reason is because I think it goes too far. We already allocate damage against characteristics, and I think that's a good compromise between hit points and hit locations.

Let the stat dictate the location, strictly for color and wound description:

STR: Legs (minor wound) or Torso (major wound)
DEX: Legs (major) or Arms (minor)
END: Groin (minor) or Upper Torso (lungs, spleen etc) (major)
INT/EDU: obviously braincase.

Critical hits remove/destroy a limb (but somehow ends up with minimal damage) or kill by headshot/ heartshot (max damage crit hit).

Minor/Major determined by how much avg damage per die rolled. There nearer to max, the more major the wound.

Notice location is independent of armor reduction, strictly connected to damage roll itself. Of course, things like "Bang" is an auditory damage, "Flash" is optical...

It is how I handled it in CT.

Also, I prefer increasing/decreasing # of die over having a chart of modifiers.

 

[robject]

Essentially, referees would go into detail in the way they like best. I do know some folks who like rolling location. I know others who will blend the location roll into the to-hit roll (uh, it works better in percentile systems: just reverse the digits and you have location). And some map characteristics to location, as you do. And then referees like me would keep it abstract, until a player wants to roll location, or extraordinary circumstances call for it.

 

[robject]

The intent of T5.00 rules is that SnapFire is truly wild shooting - poor aim, hasty actions, the whole shebang - and that sort of attack is not only highly unlikely to hit anyone, but it's not as damaging as AutoFire. It does, however, allow you to run while shooting. In fact, that's the mode of attack if you're running. Sure, you can do it other times... But WHY?

Meanwhile, AutoFire is the way to go if you want to do significantly more damage at a bit lower chance of hitting. It bumps up difficulty by one, but increases damage by two dice (per damage type? Dunno). This mode let's you attack while walking.

The default mode, aimed fire, only works if you're standing still.

So it's all about how fast you're moving when you attack.

 

[pendragonman]

Essentially, referees would go into detail in the way they like best. I do know some folks who like rolling location. I know others who will blend the location roll into the to-hit roll (uh, it works better in percentile systems: just reverse the digits and you have location). And some map characteristics to location, as you do. And then referees like me would keep it abstract, until a player wants to roll location, or extraordinary circumstances call for it.

Since I use it for color, I usually leave location for damage to PCs or henchmen. After all, the medic needs to know what to fix. Unless the players ask or specify shot of course.

 

[robject]

Both systems add to the difficulty if you're shooting while moving: one dice when walking, and two dice when running.

Both systems use TSM.

I kind of wish there were a way to use the target's minor modifiers to alter the task difficulty. For example, if you have one evasion advantage and one movement advantage, you get to increase difficulty by one. If you have one advantage and one disadvantage, they cancel each other out. If you have an evasion disadvantage (e.g. oblivious) and a movement disadvantage (running out in the open) you decrease difficulty by one. This allows those minor modifiers to contribute without having to add up DM+1 and DM-2 or whatnot.

 

[David Johansen]

Half dice?



Actually I like half dice and would gleefully implement them in T5. If you don't want them treat them as a +/- 2.

And then, I'd make all modifiers half dice or whole dice. I don't know, maybe it makes more sense to use one or the other eh?

So at present you'd have:
Range + 1 die per range band
Size -1/2 die per Size level
Target and Attacker's Speed 1 + 1/2 die
Target and Attacker's Speed 2 +1 die
Cover +1 to 3 x 1/2 dice for +1 to +3 full dice
Aimed -1/2 die
Snapfire +1/2 die

I'm probably missing things but you get the idea.