T5 Combat At Short Range

[Supplement Four]

I'd like to see what you guys think about this. Thoom is talking about it in another thread, but I thought it deserved it's own thread.

From what I can tell, the average Joe Normal character in T5 has Stat-7 and Skill-2. The character will have one or three skills higher than that, reaching to Skill-5 or so (maybe higher to Skill-6 or Skill-7) and a lot of Skill-1's.

So, if Joe Traveller is 777777 Slug Thrower-2, then he can hit a man standing still 50 meters away, 100% of the time, every pull of the trigger, no problem.

Slug Thrower-2 must be a much better skill than what I have, because I know with my little .380 that I carry (the gun will fit in the palm of your hand), it's good for about 25 feet, and I definitely won't hit a standing person over 150 feet away every time I pull the trigger, even with the laser sight.

But, in T5, here's the task:

Difficulty: 2D for Range=2
Target: 9 for Stat + Skill
Modifier: +3 for apparent range 5-2=3

2D for 12 or less



I think that's wonky--an example of where T5 fails. Thoom agrees. But, I'm sure there will be some that will find this perfectly normal.




Here's something else that's strange about the system:

Joe Normal will have a 100% chance to hit a standing human at Range=1 and Range=2 (that's 5m and 50m), but at the next range band, his chance drop drastically.

Range=1 100% chance to hit.

Range=2 100% chance to hit.

Range=3 63% chance to hit. 4D for 11 or less

Range=4 3% chance to hit. 5D for 10 or less.

Range=5 Less than 1% chance to hit. 6D for 9 or less.

Don't you think that's a strange distribution? 100% chance out to 50meters, then 63% out to 150meters. Then, it drops to virtually no chance at all beyond that.

Now, before you start thinking that this is OK with a handgun, remember that this can easily be any type of slug thrower--a rifle as easily as a handgun.

And, what about the game implications? The only time a roll is really necessary is if the target is at Range=3. Anything closer, and it's an automatic hit. Anything longer, and it would take a miracle to hit.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Licheking]

The pistol you describe is a small calibre home and personal defence weapon not intended for long range or open area shooting. Still being unable to hit a target at 8m means you are a poor shot or your weapon is very inaccurate. I have seen a shooter hit a tin can and keep hitting it at 25m with .32 revolver from the hip. Now admittedly i would put his skill at about 5, but it isn't hard to hit a target at 25m, i personally have a weak eye and am short sighted but i can hit a target with any handgun at 25m.

You will always have problems when you have arbitrary ranges/bands since you have a boundary which once crossed puts you into the next category, the more realistic way to do it would be to have a different modifier for each meter but then the system isn't built for that sort of accuracy/realism.

 

[Supplement Four]

The pistol you describe is a small calibre home and personal defence weapon not intended for long range or open area shooting.

Read the whole example. What I cite is true for all sorts of slug throwers, not just small cal pistols. The example holds for an assault rifle as well as a single shot hunting rifle, snub pistol or revolver.