| From: | Robert Watkins <bob@**.NTU.EDU.AU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Melee Combat |
| Date: | Sat, 24 Jun 1995 12:29:09 +0930 |
> Let's look closely at this. Say your troll is facing a total of
> four opponents. Say they all have katanas, thus neither side has reach
> advantage (I assume the troll is using his spurs). Say they have a
> decent skill of 4 and a Threat rating of 2.
> You wait for them to attack. They have the friends in combat
> bonus, which screws you both ways the same way as reach does (Note that
> the rules are a little ambiguous on this one, but for simplicity and
> realism, I run it the same way as reach). So with the original and 3
> "friends", the opponents have -3 and the troll has +3 to his target
> numbers. Thus, your initial target number is 7 and theirs is 1 (2).
> The first one attacks. Let's say that you have a respectable
> Combat Pool of 8, that you want to divide up evenly between all the
> attackers so as not to get hit. That means you roll a total of 10 dice,
> target number 7. Statistically, you get just under two successes. They
> get five. Guess what...you're hit! No surprise there.
Hmm... I wouldn't do it that way. I'll pump in about, well, all the CP I
can. Cause if I can take out the first guy, then the "friend's in melee"
bonus diminishes (though the numbers (being 2 and 6) don't actually
change).
I also wouldn't wait for them to attack. :) I'd kill one on my go, using as
little CP as I could. Better yet, I'd have two goes before theirs. :)
> You are now
> resisting STR+3(S) with one success behind it. Typical street punks have
> a strength of say 5 (tough little buggers, gotta be to survive), so your
> target number is 8. With an armor jacket, that drops to a 5. Rolling 11
> dice in Body resistance, you would get 4 successes, statistically
> speaking. In my game, this is still a Moderate wound, due to that
> left-over success the attacker had. That has to be taken off with one
> of yours before damage can be reduced.
What about the troll's natural dermal armour? Oops, drops to a 4. Rolling
11 dice in body resistance, you'd get 5 or 6 successes, statistically
speaking. :) So it's a light wound. Add orthoskin or a pain editor, and you
ignore it.
> In truth, combat against multiple opponents sucks. Your best bet
> is to escape or get into a situation where you can take them one at a
> time. Having Wired reflexes may help because you could act first, dump
> your entire pool into the attack and try to take one out quickly, hoping
> you go again before they do so that you're not caught without combat
> pool. That's a chancy proposition, though.
Like I said, I'd try and take out one, maybe two, in the first round,
ignoring the last couple as far as my Combat Pool goes. Sure, I'd probably
get wounded, but that'd be offset by the diminished "Friends in Combat"
bonus. The troll, played smart, would probably win. He'd hurt, oh yeah, but
he'd win.
> From a martial arts perspective, I have trained in multiple
> opponent combat, and it's mainly mind-games. Shock tactics, blinding
> violence, psyching out the opponent, and possessing a good pair of running
> legs are pretty much the standard. Cheating helps. But even with only
> two opponents, things can get hairy.
Possessing a good pair of running legs is always good. :) Also, unless the
opponents know each other's styles well enough, they'll probably interfere
with each other a bit.
--
Robert Watkins bob@**.ntu.edu.au
Real Programmers never work 9 to 5. If any real programmers
are around at 9 am, it's because they were up all night.
*** Finger me for my geek code ***
