| From: | Ereskanti <Ereskanti@***.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: SR Lethality Follow-up |
| Date: | Tue, 23 Dec 1997 20:11:55 EST |
> Okayyyyy, let's see what we've gotten here....
Handing over the Monacle of Obscured Seeing....
> In answer to the question "Is Shadowrun lethal enough?" the general
> consensus
> I've gotten has run around the form of "Yes, but...." Most people seem to
> think that it's lethal enough at the "normal" level but breaks down at the
> higher end of the scale.
>
> With that in mind, I'd like to toss around a couple of ideas:
Giving Jon the beanie babies to go with the new "Toss Across"...
> (1) Currently the basic combat test (in other words, for ranged, melee,
> magic,
> and so on) is an Opposed Test: whoever gets more successes (attacker or
> target) stages up or stages down the damage, as appropriate. How about
> changing this back to a Resisted Test: The attacker makes his test and
> stages
> the damage up, based on the number of successes. Then the defender makes
his
> resistance test, staging down the damage from the result (after the
attacker'
> s
> test).
Actually, we've never stopped using the "Resisted Test", and things are more
than lethal enough...even with Armor rules, things remain. What really sucks
is the levels of armor that a cybertype (or anyone for that matter) can stack
up. Especially if a magician's Barrier Magics get thrown into things.
> (2) For both the Attack and Resistance Tests, every two successes stages
the
> Damage Level up (or down) by one step. Consider this idea: during the
> Attacker's Test, every *single* success stages the Damage Level up by one
> step; for the Resistance Test, it still takes two successes to stage the
> damage down one step.
OH MY GOD!!!! NO, I won't...no Saber Missiles under these rules...NO!!!
(warding gestures, various holy relics, and some spitting ensue)
> This should address two problems that have been mentioned: it's a lot
easier
> for characters with low Combat Skills to achieve enough successes (before
> including Combat Pool dice) to do real damage, and now light pistolsand
> knives
> are a real threat (it only takes 3 successes to score these up from Light
to
> Deadly damage, instead of 6). By leaving the Resistance Test unchanged, it
> shouldn't make it Shadowrun more lethal than it already is.
And that example alone is more than worth not utilizing things. It leaves the
rules open for major levels of abuse. I hate to say it, but the "Weapon
Damage by Target Size" stuff from AD&D is probably the best thing here.
Vehicles, and now Ships, adjust the damage codes, so that helps, but a "Sword"
being swung at a "Great Dragon" does Moderate Damage (which for people is the
equivalent of losing a Hand or Foot btw)??????????? I don't think so...
> (3) Currently any additional successes (after scoring damage to Deadly)
have
> no effect, unless using the optional Deadlier Over-damage Rules (either the
> FoF version or the SRComp version). Consider this idea: any "leftover"
> successes, after staging up the damage to Deadly, increases the target
> number
> for the Damage Resistance Test, at a rate of +1 for every *two* successes
> above and beyond.
We were just about to use this option actually...it's a variation on the
original rules actually for "reducing armor values" if you think about it.
Except it means more if the character is unarmored (I think I like this
actually).
> This does not necessarily nullify the Deadlier Over-damage Rules. Those
> rules
> require that the Power be greater than a threshold (2x Body or 1.5x Body,
> depending on the verion used). The +1 modifier/2 successes may apply to
> weapons that do not meet the Deadlier Over-damage criteria.
Oooh, the killer Backstab is BACK!!!
> One final note: as they stand, ideas (1), (2), and (3) are not interlinked
> together and can stand apart from each other.
That's Nice... ;)
> Let me know what you think. Are any of these ideas worth considering? All
of
> them? None of them? Some of them? Why or why not?
Some of them and read the above...
> Thanks,
> -- Jon
-K (peaking out, waiting for the flame war to start elsewhere)
