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Message no. 1
From: zebulingod@*****.com (Zebulin M)
Subject: [SR4] New Debates for the List - Shock Ammo and Knockback
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 11:13:27 -0700
There's an ammo type, Stick-n-Shock, in Shadowrun 4 which I'd like a little
clarification on:

"Stick-n-Shock: This is a special adhesive projectile that sticks to the
target and incorporates a battery pack that delivers short bursts of
high-voltage pulses. Th e Stick-n-Shock replaces the weapon's Damage Value
with its own."

Now, it has a damage code of 6S(e).

-> What exactly does that mean? If I fire a narrow burst of these from my
machine pistol (3 rounds) and get 4 hits, how much damage am I doing? Is it
6S staged for burst? 6S staged for burst AND hits? Just 6S?

-> The rounds don't have inherent damage on their own, but rather are
charged capacitors, so how should this damage be worked?

NEXT, knockback:

"Characters who take damage may be knocked down by the attack. If a
character takes a number of boxes of damage (Stun or Physical) from a single
attack that equal or exceed his Body, then the attack automatically knocks
him down. Characters who take 10 or more boxes of damage in a single attack
are always knocked down."

Okay, so this is just wonky. Assuming a character has a body of 3, they'll
be knocked over by practically anything that hits them. Combat is going to
consist of knocking over as many people as possible, (which them makes it
easier to shoot them, I think, while also putting them at a disadvantage)
and then finishing them off. Did I miss something somewhere?

Zebulin
Message no. 2
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: [SR4] New Debates for the List - Shock Ammo and Knockback
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 20:30:33 +0200
According to Zebulin M, on 19-10-05 20:13 the word on the street was...

> Okay, so this is just wonky. Assuming a character has a body of 3, they'll
> be knocked over by practically anything that hits them. Combat is going to
> consist of knocking over as many people as possible, (which them makes it
> easier to shoot them, I think, while also putting them at a disadvantage)
> and then finishing them off. Did I miss something somewhere?

SR4 combat does indeed consist of lots of people getting knocked down
and having to get back up again. During playtesting, my players at first
didn't count on this, because they were used to bad guys only hitting
the ground when they were incapacitated -- so when I described someone
as falling down after a successful attack, they turned their attention
to another opponent, and were then surprised to be shot at by NPCs they
thought were dead.

However, being on the ground does not really put a character at a
disadvantage as long as the combat remains a firefght: there is no
modifier for shooting at a prone target, only for trying to hit one in
melee combat. Technically, they're not even penalized if they try to
crawl as opposed to walk ...

I think the idea is to streamline combat. TBH the old SRII/3 knockback
rules were cumbersome because you had to do a few calculations and roll
_another_ test to see if the target fell down, staggered back, or
remained upright. Having automatic knockdown is much easier on the GM.
It also provides a convenient way to get NPCs out of a battle if you
think they wouldn't fight on: just leave them on the ground after taking
a wound.

BTW, be thankful that vehicle drivers get to make a test to avoid
crashes -- in playtesting, crashes from attacks worked 100% identical to
knockback. I fired a burst from a CMDT at an Americar in the very first
action of a vehicle chase, and ended it right there :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
I'll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours
-> Possibly NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
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