| From: | Richard Pieri <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Dice Pools |
| Date: | Fri, 25 Jun 1993 21:15:35 EDT |
Take, for example, a character with Armed Combat 6, and he wants to use it
to defend unarmed, via the Skill Web. I don't have my stuff handy, but I
*think* that he has to go through two dots on the Web, so his T#s go up by
4. Let's use the default T#4 to start, so now he's got 6 dice against a T#
of 8. On average he'll get 1 success if he's lucky (0.833 to be exact).
Someone with the Unarmed Combat skill at 6 would average 3 successes with a
T# of 4. The Skill Web is geared to be tough to traverse, but not
impossible.
Now, using Unarmed Combat 6 to attack and Armed Combat 6 to defend. The
unarmed guy gets *12* dice to attack with against a T# of 4, for an average
of 6 successes. The defender with only 6 dice (if you don't allow him to
use the Combat Pool) get's his 1. One hit, and he goes down. Combat over.
What's wrong with this picture? A couple of things. Not the least of which,
as I mentioned previously, is that Combat Pool dice can be used to assist
the Damage Resistance Test, for which *THERE IS NO SKILL*. Furthermore, the
way the Skill Web functions is that skills are related, not discrete from
each other. Yes, you know how to fight bare-handed; this will give you some
idea how to fight with a baseball bat in your hands. Not quite as good as
someone who's practiced a lot with bats, but passable. This is reflected in
the increased target numbers. And finally, Shadowrun doesn't give you a
whole lot of points to put into Skils to start with, even with a Priority A
in Skills. This is why the Skill Web exists. It functions much as Skill
Defaults do in GURPS. By not allowing skills used via the Web to use Pool
Dice (Combat Pool for combat, Control Pool for vehicles), you seriously
weaken characters who rely on these pools (Samurai and Riggers).
Here's another example, using the Rigger as a base. Give him Skill Priority
B, for 30 skill points. Riggers are supposed to be good with vehicles, and
this guy can drive just about anything, so he puts 6 into Car, 5 into Bike,
5 more into Aircraft, and another 5 into Boats. Pretty good, eh? Now he's
got 4 skill points to put into something else. Just so he can use his
Control Pool with all kinds of vehicles. I don't agree in the least.
Besides, it makes sense to allow characters to default through the Web and
get their Pool Dice. Pool Dice are, among other things, a representation of
a character's natural or cyber-assisted talent towards something. And there
*are* limits, that being the skill being used.
Let's go back to the combat example, and let the defender add his Combat
Pool to his defense roll. His 12 dice against the T# 8 will average 1.667
successes (call it 2) which may be just enough to turn that Deadly hit into
a Serious one, and he manages to survive another round of combat.
I'll finish this diatribe off by saying that using Pool Dice along the Web
helps. Not a lot, but it does help.
BTW, if anyone's interested, I have a list of probabilities for target
numbers vs number of dice rolled. It's been posted here before, but if
there's enough demand I can re-post it again.
--Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> Northeastern's Stainless Steel Rat
PGP Public Key Block available upon request Ask about rat-pgp.el
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