| From: | "Jason Carter, Nightstalker" <CARTER@***.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Threat Rating and Karma Pools |
| Date: | Thu, 22 Apr 1993 13:11:56 -0700 |
>>An NPC with a TR of 2-3 can't dodge for his life, while a NPC with a 5-6
>>TR will not only be able to dodge many attacks, but will then turn around
>>and be able to roll 12-14 dice against (usually in firearms) a T# of 2!.
>>And depending on how it is done, an NPC with a TR of 5-6 has an effective
>>Combat pool of 15-20!
Now I could be wrong, but I thought Treat Ratings were supposed to replace
combat pools. The purpose was to keep the GM from having to remember exactly
how much combat (or any other) pool each and every NPC has left.
>>One solution for this is to treat threat ratings as a Karma pool for the NPC.
>>Low level goons have a 1-3. This, combined with their generally low stats/
>>skills, means that the PC's will be able to take them one-on-one. Major
>>villains, with their Threat Ratings of 6 or so (And I did not make up that
>>number, that is from a published adventure. She also had wired-3 and
>>Firearms-6. The PC's ended manabolting her when she popped out of
>>cover to take down another PC.) will give the PC's a major workout. The
>>best part of this is that you don't have to do as much work with the published
>>modules.
Giving NPC Karma Pools is a particularly nasty (and effective) way of making
them more dangerous. Just ask Huth. However I would not advise giving the
Low level goons (read cannonfodder) karma pools. The purpose of cannonfodder is
to either draw fire away form the big guys (gotta kill them before they get
lucky and hurt someone) or to just slow the heroes down (damn it, we would have
been gone if these guards didn't keep showing up). In either case they are
meant to die hard and fast. Giving them Karma Pools slows down the rate of
attrision.
See Ya in Shadows,
Jason J Carter
The Nightstaker
