This is something I have been wrestling with for months, if not years...
Is it better to have a static percentage chance of a critical (a natural 20 is a 5% chance to threaten, regardless of who the attacker is) or make it a matter of degree? For example, if a target's base armor class without modifier is 10, a natural 20 is beating the target by an additional 10 (10 will hit on the nose, as will 11-20).
So a rapier, normally a 18-20 threat range, would threaten/critical on a +8 (getting a result of 18 or better against an AC 10). Of course, at low levels critical hits would be less common as armor class often outstrips attack bonus. At high levels, however, this would reverse itself. It would probably require a defense bonus to mitigate it a bit, so high level opponents squaring off don't just crit each other to death. I'll have to run the numbers, I think.
On the positive, certain maneuvers (like feint, trip, etc.) designed to make your opponent temporarily vulnerable would have a very real impact on combat. Feinting an opponent to make him flat footed against your next strike could very well end the combat. A trip attack puts a target in a very vulnerable position, making a wolf pack a very real and deadly threat.
Showing posts with label Combat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Combat. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Healing
The goal is to allow healing without it overcoming the game completely. I want to break it down into two philosophical concepts:
There will be some magic, class abilities (like rage) and maybe herbs/drugs that allow a character to ignore existing trauma. In essence, the penalty for being wounded (fatigue) is ignored. This is important, as it allows characters to function when they should long ago have succumbed to exhaustion and pain. If a character is ignoring wound trauma, they effectively have a recovery of 1. Any addition to the recovery modifier are against the base value, however, not the effective level. This will allow someone seriously injured to heal on a normal night of rest instead of needing complete bed rest.
Some of this may be accomplished by giving the target "false life" - temporary wound levels that will disappear after the duration. This may be the only way to keep someone dying alive long enough for healing. Note: This can really open some interesting game avenues, with necromancy, bound foci, linked lives, etc. More on this later!
Healing wounds
To determine your Recovery modifier, calculate an ability modifier from your current amount of Wounds. In other words, a character with 2 wounds would have a -4 modifier.
With a full night’s rest (8 hours of sleep or more), you recover 1 + your Recovery modifier in wounds. If that value is less than one, the character must undergo complete bed rest to heal. Any significant interruption during your rest prevents you from healing that night. Note: I probably should add in a mechanic for getting worse; either that or just make it a narritive challenge for the healer
If you undergo complete bed rest for an entire day and night, you recover twice your normal recovery if positive. For negative values or zero values, fractionalize the gain. A RecMod of 1 would be 2 wounds/complete day of rest (since recovery is doubled), a RecMod of 0 would be 1 wound/complete day of rest, a -1 would be 1 wound/2 complete days, -2 would be 3 complete days, and so on. As wound levels decrease, healing is quicker.
Magical healing in EOM is a number of dice, just like with evocation. We will treat it like evocation and make it a simple bonus of 1 + 1.5/MP. This bonus is added to a character's recovery. Duration will play a part in this. So a +10 healing effect to a dying character (0 wounds, -5 penalty) would give them a +5, effectively a recovery of 6. With a full night's rest, they will have 6 wounds and be out of danger.
Keep in mind, this is still only in the philosophic area right now and is subject to change.
Example of Healing
Paul the Peasant is burninated by Trogdor. He has a constitution of 14 (14 wounds) and is down to 0 and dying quickly. Helpful Harry the Healer is on the scene quickly and applies a +10 healing charm to the rapidly fading Paul.
Paul is stabilized (I need to add a quick mechanic for this, perhaps related to Harry's healing skill - I still want knowledge of healing to be very important) so vitality loss is not an issue at the moment. Paul's base recovery is -4: a base 1 + a recovery mod of -5; With the healing charm, his recovery rockets up to a +6, meaning he'll heal 6 wounds with a full night's rest. He'll be fatigued, maybe exhausted depending on his vitality situation, but should be able to travel the next day and begin the road to recovery.
The second night, Harry puts the same charm on him. This time, Paul's base recovery is only -1 (base 1 + recovery mod of -2 for his 6 wounds), so the healing charm makes his effective recovery +9. He'll completely heal up with a full night's rest. Not bad for someone on death's door less than 48 hours previous.
- Ignoring trauma/wound penalties
- Healing wounds
There will be some magic, class abilities (like rage) and maybe herbs/drugs that allow a character to ignore existing trauma. In essence, the penalty for being wounded (fatigue) is ignored. This is important, as it allows characters to function when they should long ago have succumbed to exhaustion and pain. If a character is ignoring wound trauma, they effectively have a recovery of 1. Any addition to the recovery modifier are against the base value, however, not the effective level. This will allow someone seriously injured to heal on a normal night of rest instead of needing complete bed rest.
Some of this may be accomplished by giving the target "false life" - temporary wound levels that will disappear after the duration. This may be the only way to keep someone dying alive long enough for healing. Note: This can really open some interesting game avenues, with necromancy, bound foci, linked lives, etc. More on this later!
Healing wounds
To determine your Recovery modifier, calculate an ability modifier from your current amount of Wounds. In other words, a character with 2 wounds would have a -4 modifier.
With a full night’s rest (8 hours of sleep or more), you recover 1 + your Recovery modifier in wounds. If that value is less than one, the character must undergo complete bed rest to heal. Any significant interruption during your rest prevents you from healing that night. Note: I probably should add in a mechanic for getting worse; either that or just make it a narritive challenge for the healer
If you undergo complete bed rest for an entire day and night, you recover twice your normal recovery if positive. For negative values or zero values, fractionalize the gain. A RecMod of 1 would be 2 wounds/complete day of rest (since recovery is doubled), a RecMod of 0 would be 1 wound/complete day of rest, a -1 would be 1 wound/2 complete days, -2 would be 3 complete days, and so on. As wound levels decrease, healing is quicker.
Magical healing in EOM is a number of dice, just like with evocation. We will treat it like evocation and make it a simple bonus of 1 + 1.5/MP. This bonus is added to a character's recovery. Duration will play a part in this. So a +10 healing effect to a dying character (0 wounds, -5 penalty) would give them a +5, effectively a recovery of 6. With a full night's rest, they will have 6 wounds and be out of danger.
Keep in mind, this is still only in the philosophic area right now and is subject to change.
Example of Healing
Paul the Peasant is burninated by Trogdor. He has a constitution of 14 (14 wounds) and is down to 0 and dying quickly. Helpful Harry the Healer is on the scene quickly and applies a +10 healing charm to the rapidly fading Paul.
Paul is stabilized (I need to add a quick mechanic for this, perhaps related to Harry's healing skill - I still want knowledge of healing to be very important) so vitality loss is not an issue at the moment. Paul's base recovery is -4: a base 1 + a recovery mod of -5; With the healing charm, his recovery rockets up to a +6, meaning he'll heal 6 wounds with a full night's rest. He'll be fatigued, maybe exhausted depending on his vitality situation, but should be able to travel the next day and begin the road to recovery.
The second night, Harry puts the same charm on him. This time, Paul's base recovery is only -1 (base 1 + recovery mod of -2 for his 6 wounds), so the healing charm makes his effective recovery +9. He'll completely heal up with a full night's rest. Not bad for someone on death's door less than 48 hours previous.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Combat
I'm eliminating Attacks of Opportunity and many feats. I'm trying to make feats simple bonuses and modifiers to the character. In place of that, I'm making maneuvers available to anyone who meets the requirements. Many times these requirements are a critical hit (succeeding by 10+) and sometimes may include such things as the type of weapon, the amount of damage done (usually wound damage), and maybe any combat styles they know (feats). Some existing feats need to be modified while others will be removed altogether.
The end goal is to provide a general framework for a character to develop (taking feats that would represent a specific style of training - like the different sword styles in Swashingbuckling Adventures/7th Sea).
You can break down the styles and grant benefits from there, maybe even as prestige classes. The base soldier class would represent general weapon training, while a prestige class would open up specific types of training - ways to fight. There are inherent advantages and disadvantages to each.
Goals:
The end goal is to provide a general framework for a character to develop (taking feats that would represent a specific style of training - like the different sword styles in Swashingbuckling Adventures/7th Sea).
You can break down the styles and grant benefits from there, maybe even as prestige classes. The base soldier class would represent general weapon training, while a prestige class would open up specific types of training - ways to fight. There are inherent advantages and disadvantages to each.
Goals:
- Dramatic. Eliminate the need for miniatures. They can be used, but should only be a point of reference, not a tactical mandate. One way is to eliminate Attacks of Opportunity. Another way to make combat more narrative is by changing the structure from Maneuver -> Success/Fail to Success/Fail -> Maneuver. Meaning the degree of success on a combat check opens up available maneuvers instead of attempting a maneuver and outright succeeding or failing.
- Efficient. Make combat quicker by eliminating die rolls and having most variables pre-calculated.
- Dangerous but fair. Combat should be inherently a dangerous activity, not approached lightly by anything. It should be gritty and lethal with enough leeway to allow characters to be seriously threatened without crippling the party. Characters should always be in danger, but it should not be life-threatening unless the player wishes it to be. One mechanic I found for this was use of action points. A character may gain action points by putting his character in mortal danger. In other words, if a player decides to make a "stand" against opponents, he will get bonuses by essentially opening himself up for character death. This is not to say that characters cannot be seriously wounded and left for dead, but the story won't dictate that they die at that time.
Wounds and Vitality
The quest for simplification continues still...
The wound/vitality variant is not the same as defined in UA or other games, such as d20 Star Wars.
Vitality is a measure of toughness and endurance. It is used to track non-lethal damage and fatigue. Configuring the mechanic this way enables you to use vitality for spells (like MP) and for general fatigue for other activities. So extended combat will do vitality damage to you the same as any other damage source - like trying not to drown.
At 1/2 vitality, a character gains the Fatigued state. At 0 vitality, the character gains the Exhausted state. Once at 0 Vitality, additional damage is taken as Wounds.
Wounds are exactly what is described - your physical ability to withstand damage. It is equal to your Constitution + size modifier. Some feats may add to this as well. In reality, it actually functions more like hardness than anything else.
Characters take X amount of damage and they have Y wounds. The character takes X in vitality damage, subtracting any damage reduction from armor and the like. If the remaining damage (X-DR) is greater than Y, the character takes that many wounds (New Y = X- DR - Y).
If a character takes any wound damage, they are fatigued. This state combines with Vitality, so a character at half vitality and some wound damage (fatigued+fatigued) is exhausted. A character at 0 wounds is dying and losing vitality each round. When a character is at 0 vitality and is wounded, they are unconscious. If they are at 0 vitality and 0 wounds, they are dead. Pretty simple, really.
The size modifier for wounds would also apply to damage, meaning that larger creatures would be much harder to kill easily - you have to continue to beat on them until they wear down. Smaller creatures would be harder to hit, but easier to take down with a solid blow.
The wound/vitality variant is not the same as defined in UA or other games, such as d20 Star Wars.
Vitality is a measure of toughness and endurance. It is used to track non-lethal damage and fatigue. Configuring the mechanic this way enables you to use vitality for spells (like MP) and for general fatigue for other activities. So extended combat will do vitality damage to you the same as any other damage source - like trying not to drown.
At 1/2 vitality, a character gains the Fatigued state. At 0 vitality, the character gains the Exhausted state. Once at 0 Vitality, additional damage is taken as Wounds.
Wounds are exactly what is described - your physical ability to withstand damage. It is equal to your Constitution + size modifier. Some feats may add to this as well. In reality, it actually functions more like hardness than anything else.
Characters take X amount of damage and they have Y wounds. The character takes X in vitality damage, subtracting any damage reduction from armor and the like. If the remaining damage (X-DR) is greater than Y, the character takes that many wounds (New Y = X- DR - Y).
If a character takes any wound damage, they are fatigued. This state combines with Vitality, so a character at half vitality and some wound damage (fatigued+fatigued) is exhausted. A character at 0 wounds is dying and losing vitality each round. When a character is at 0 vitality and is wounded, they are unconscious. If they are at 0 vitality and 0 wounds, they are dead. Pretty simple, really.
The size modifier for wounds would also apply to damage, meaning that larger creatures would be much harder to kill easily - you have to continue to beat on them until they wear down. Smaller creatures would be harder to hit, but easier to take down with a solid blow.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Alpha Game 5 - Fight Night
The intrepid band of adventurers encountered the mysterious Akknals for the first time in the form of a hunting party. Both groups realized the other was out there, but some on both sides managed to be surprised nonetheless. The skirmish set up the night's festivities well and got them into the spirit of it. They found the secret passage into the former dwarven citadel and encountered a large party of Akknal warriors and a Shaman trying to batter down a door.
First off, the fight was fabulous. I have to make some minor adjustments here and there, but it flowed quickly and had a good rhythm. I modified how critical damage is done to not make it so punative over the long haul while still keeping its short term kick in the pants. Now it is something that could very well end your combat, but if for whatever reason you do recover from it, you will not be completely out of everything afterward.
The players had a lot of fun and the system was able to accomodate narrative combat actions quite easily, such as when the (foolhardy) wizard decided to run after the fleeing Akknal hunter and tackle him before he could alert others, or when the sorcerer transformed back to human form from his animal shape under the Sorcerer, knocking him over. The players had some suggestions and I saw some things that needed fixing, but overall it was a resounding success.
First off, the fight was fabulous. I have to make some minor adjustments here and there, but it flowed quickly and had a good rhythm. I modified how critical damage is done to not make it so punative over the long haul while still keeping its short term kick in the pants. Now it is something that could very well end your combat, but if for whatever reason you do recover from it, you will not be completely out of everything afterward.
The players had a lot of fun and the system was able to accomodate narrative combat actions quite easily, such as when the (foolhardy) wizard decided to run after the fleeing Akknal hunter and tackle him before he could alert others, or when the sorcerer transformed back to human form from his animal shape under the Sorcerer, knocking him over. The players had some suggestions and I saw some things that needed fixing, but overall it was a resounding success.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Combat thoughts
Combat has been going pretty well, but something about the feel just isn't right yet. I'm going to play around with a few more variants and possible changes at the next game; there should be plenty of combat on a larger scale, as opposed to the few small scale tilts the characters have been involved with the past few weeks.
I actually took a few days off to clear my head and I went through some variants in Unearthed Arcana and other places and I may have sparked some further ideas on keeping the combat grim (which the players have responded to favorably thus far) and keeping it within the right feel that I'm looking for. I've spoken with Ryan Nock (of Elements of Magic fame) recently about the magic system and he said he'd look at it after GenCon (which ended today). I definitely have to make it up there next year. Hopefully I'll have a new game book in tow too.
I actually took a few days off to clear my head and I went through some variants in Unearthed Arcana and other places and I may have sparked some further ideas on keeping the combat grim (which the players have responded to favorably thus far) and keeping it within the right feel that I'm looking for. I've spoken with Ryan Nock (of Elements of Magic fame) recently about the magic system and he said he'd look at it after GenCon (which ended today). I definitely have to make it up there next year. Hopefully I'll have a new game book in tow too.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Alpha Game 4
We were missing two participants on Monday - Brian (Isaac the fighter) and Rich (Demetrius the Hunter) which was good and bad. The three spellcasters were in attendance, so we used the time to come up with tradition feats for each - one wizard, one sorcerer, one spellsword. After that was done, we had a side-plot that happened sometime in the night.
Jess, the Wizard, was on watch when he noticed a fog roll in and the strange sound of bells. He tried to wake everyone up, but only the sorcerer, Aren, and the spellsword, Capernius, would wake. They encountered a young girl singing to herself while sitting on a rock, brushing her hair. They approached and were immediately caught in the snare of a charm spell, making them feel happy and friendly towards this strange girl.
Meanwhile, her friend was looking through the camp until he found an old curved blade made of strange metal. The three spellcasters noticed this and started to move his way when the girl, bored with her song, threw a knife at Aren. The three spellcasters got into a solid fight with the Elves. Capernius was gutted pretty well by one of them while Jess the wizard got into an extended grapple with the girl. Aren managed to barely take care of the elf who nearly killed Capernius before Jess was finally able to overpower the girl and stab her to death.
The grapple test went really well and it was a nice magic test too.
Jess, the Wizard, was on watch when he noticed a fog roll in and the strange sound of bells. He tried to wake everyone up, but only the sorcerer, Aren, and the spellsword, Capernius, would wake. They encountered a young girl singing to herself while sitting on a rock, brushing her hair. They approached and were immediately caught in the snare of a charm spell, making them feel happy and friendly towards this strange girl.
Meanwhile, her friend was looking through the camp until he found an old curved blade made of strange metal. The three spellcasters noticed this and started to move his way when the girl, bored with her song, threw a knife at Aren. The three spellcasters got into a solid fight with the Elves. Capernius was gutted pretty well by one of them while Jess the wizard got into an extended grapple with the girl. Aren managed to barely take care of the elf who nearly killed Capernius before Jess was finally able to overpower the girl and stab her to death.
The grapple test went really well and it was a nice magic test too.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Mechanics
I've been working on an overreaching mechanic for the system. The Grim'n'Gritty revised and simplified by Ken Hood is a nice system that makes combat very lethal and nasty. The mechanic is very nice and also can be used to streamline other parts of the game, so the mechanics do not get in the way of the story.
The critical mechanic used in the system is a little similar in the set up to what I already have, but the execution at the end is much better.
The base threat range for any weapon (or check) is 10. If you exceed your target number by 10 or more, you threaten a critical - just like rolling a 20 in D&D. Instead of doing extra damage, you can select critical effects with a modifier to the confirmation roll.
Example (Normal D&D vs. Modified GnG)
This can be further extrapolated to other checks.
Skills: Craft (Weapon) - if the user makes his check by 10, he can attempt to craft a masterwork item with a modifier. This is bounded by material costs, of course.
Magic: Power check - if the caster makes his check by 10, he can add metamagic or additional effects to the spell.
The critical mechanic used in the system is a little similar in the set up to what I already have, but the execution at the end is much better.
The base threat range for any weapon (or check) is 10. If you exceed your target number by 10 or more, you threaten a critical - just like rolling a 20 in D&D. Instead of doing extra damage, you can select critical effects with a modifier to the confirmation roll.
Example (Normal D&D vs. Modified GnG)
- Fighter with Longsword (19-20, x2) - if he rolls a 19-20 on a d20, he threatens a critical and has to only hit the base Armor Class to confirm it - doing double damage (x2).
- Fighter with Longsword (8/+0) - if the fighter exceeds his target by 8 or more, he threatens a critical. He may select multiple maneuvers with modifiers, such as Disable Arm (-4) and roll his confirmation check at -4. If successful, the target makes a saving throw or has his arm disabled. The +0 is a modifier to the saving throw. High impact weapons, like picks, are harder to make a successful save against.
This can be further extrapolated to other checks.
Skills: Craft (Weapon) - if the user makes his check by 10, he can attempt to craft a masterwork item with a modifier. This is bounded by material costs, of course.
Magic: Power check - if the caster makes his check by 10, he can add metamagic or additional effects to the spell.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Grim n' Gritty
I've been looking over Ken Hood's revised Grim'n'Gritty combat rules. Very nice stuff. I may incorporate more into the game. I want combat to be streamlined as much as possible.
Monday, January 23, 2006
KISS
The constant effort to simplify and speed up combat (while keeping it interesting) continues...
The wargaming/battlemap roots of D&D introduced several concepts that may have outlived their usefulness. Everyone is so concerned about being in this specific position to get a flanking bonus, while keeping this person three spaces away to maximize this feat, etc. - it's too much to worry about.
This really was made evident recently when discussing rules from Mutants and Masterminds, second edition. The guys running the game (Two GMs) are having trouble dealing with super-speedsters (really, any super movement) because the character can go on and off map at will, especially with move-by attack.
The thing to keep in mind with M&M (and other games) is that movement doesn't have to be tactical for everyone. Slow characters may need the board, but fast ones are more conceptual than tactical. A lot of the problems they're having could be solved creatively, such as an opponent taking a readied action or having a rival super-speeder who can walk up and attack just as easily as the counterpart.
This gets to specific combat modifiers. These can go overboard, with tables and tables of modifiers. Right now I have three primary sets of modifiers "outside" of a character (meaning a character may have modifiers specific to himself).
Concealment, Cover, and Advantage. Concealment, obviously, is when something cannot be seen clearly. The base mechanic for concealment is a percentage chance to miss, which I loathe. It's an ad hoc mechanic thrown on to the end. The base d20 roll is a percentile (each number is 5% - duh) - so if you have a 20% miss chance for partial concealment, why not just add a +4 to the target defense? Since critical hits are tied into a degree of success mechanic, this makes that +4 very important.
Here are my (current) rules for all three conditions:
COVER
If there is any object between your character and a source of attack, you can gain a degree of cover. There are many types of cover available: light cover, heavy cover, soft cover, and total cover.
Light cover can be anything that partially obstructs you from your target, from 10% to 50%. It provides you with a +4 bonus to Defense and a +2 bonus to Reflex saves from attacks on the opposite side of the cover.
Heavy cover is anything above 50% and provides you with a +8 bonus to Defense and a +4 bonus to Reflex saves from attacks on the opposite side of the cover. Heavy cover also grants the Improved Evasion ability while you’re protected, meaning that any failed saving throw only does half damage. Heavy cover also grants a +10 bonus to Sneak checks.
Soft cover only applies to ranged attacks, granting a +4 bonus to defense only when any non-adjacent creature is between you and your attacker or if you are in melee combat. Precise Shot negates the penalty for soft cover.
Total Cover is 100% coverage and means you cannot be attacked through the cover at all.
CONCEALMENT
If a target is hidden or distorted, it makes attacking more difficult. Much like Cover, there are several levels of Concealment.
Light Concealment, such as being behind branches or being in dim light, gives a defender a +4 bonus to Defense against ranged attacks and a +5 bonus to the Sneak skill.
Heavy Concealment, such as being in smoke, fog, or darkness, gives a defender a +8 bonus to Defense against ranged attacks and a +4 bonus to Defense against melee attacks. The defender also gets a +10 bonus to the Sneak skill.
Total Concealment, such as being in total darkness or invisible, makes the target even more difficult to find. If an attacker can make an opposed Perception check versus the defender’s Stealth, he may attack with a chance of success. If the concealed creature attacks or otherwise does something to announce its presence, the affected creatures gain a +20 bonus to the perception check against the concealed target on their next action. A totally concealed defender gets a +8 bonus to Defense and a +20 bonus to the Sneak skill.
ADVANTAGE
There are several miscellaneous modifiers that affect combat checks.
The Outnumbered advantage means when a character is trying to fend off more than one attacker. Attackers get a +2 bonus to hit when fighting an outnumbered opponent.
The Unaware advantage means the character does not know an attack is coming. An unaware character is considered flat-footed against the unknown threat until an attack is made or the threat is realized.
Higher Ground, such as being mounted or standing above a prone adversary, provides a +2 bonus to attack and a +2 bonus to damage.
The wargaming/battlemap roots of D&D introduced several concepts that may have outlived their usefulness. Everyone is so concerned about being in this specific position to get a flanking bonus, while keeping this person three spaces away to maximize this feat, etc. - it's too much to worry about.
This really was made evident recently when discussing rules from Mutants and Masterminds, second edition. The guys running the game (Two GMs) are having trouble dealing with super-speedsters (really, any super movement) because the character can go on and off map at will, especially with move-by attack.
The thing to keep in mind with M&M (and other games) is that movement doesn't have to be tactical for everyone. Slow characters may need the board, but fast ones are more conceptual than tactical. A lot of the problems they're having could be solved creatively, such as an opponent taking a readied action or having a rival super-speeder who can walk up and attack just as easily as the counterpart.
This gets to specific combat modifiers. These can go overboard, with tables and tables of modifiers. Right now I have three primary sets of modifiers "outside" of a character (meaning a character may have modifiers specific to himself).
Concealment, Cover, and Advantage. Concealment, obviously, is when something cannot be seen clearly. The base mechanic for concealment is a percentage chance to miss, which I loathe. It's an ad hoc mechanic thrown on to the end. The base d20 roll is a percentile (each number is 5% - duh) - so if you have a 20% miss chance for partial concealment, why not just add a +4 to the target defense? Since critical hits are tied into a degree of success mechanic, this makes that +4 very important.
Here are my (current) rules for all three conditions:
COVER
If there is any object between your character and a source of attack, you can gain a degree of cover. There are many types of cover available: light cover, heavy cover, soft cover, and total cover.
Light cover can be anything that partially obstructs you from your target, from 10% to 50%. It provides you with a +4 bonus to Defense and a +2 bonus to Reflex saves from attacks on the opposite side of the cover.
Heavy cover is anything above 50% and provides you with a +8 bonus to Defense and a +4 bonus to Reflex saves from attacks on the opposite side of the cover. Heavy cover also grants the Improved Evasion ability while you’re protected, meaning that any failed saving throw only does half damage. Heavy cover also grants a +10 bonus to Sneak checks.
Soft cover only applies to ranged attacks, granting a +4 bonus to defense only when any non-adjacent creature is between you and your attacker or if you are in melee combat. Precise Shot negates the penalty for soft cover.
Total Cover is 100% coverage and means you cannot be attacked through the cover at all.
CONCEALMENT
If a target is hidden or distorted, it makes attacking more difficult. Much like Cover, there are several levels of Concealment.
Light Concealment, such as being behind branches or being in dim light, gives a defender a +4 bonus to Defense against ranged attacks and a +5 bonus to the Sneak skill.
Heavy Concealment, such as being in smoke, fog, or darkness, gives a defender a +8 bonus to Defense against ranged attacks and a +4 bonus to Defense against melee attacks. The defender also gets a +10 bonus to the Sneak skill.
Total Concealment, such as being in total darkness or invisible, makes the target even more difficult to find. If an attacker can make an opposed Perception check versus the defender’s Stealth, he may attack with a chance of success. If the concealed creature attacks or otherwise does something to announce its presence, the affected creatures gain a +20 bonus to the perception check against the concealed target on their next action. A totally concealed defender gets a +8 bonus to Defense and a +20 bonus to the Sneak skill.
ADVANTAGE
There are several miscellaneous modifiers that affect combat checks.
The Outnumbered advantage means when a character is trying to fend off more than one attacker. Attackers get a +2 bonus to hit when fighting an outnumbered opponent.
The Unaware advantage means the character does not know an attack is coming. An unaware character is considered flat-footed against the unknown threat until an attack is made or the threat is realized.
Higher Ground, such as being mounted or standing above a prone adversary, provides a +2 bonus to attack and a +2 bonus to damage.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Sample Combat
I was asked to provide a sample combat, along with explanations.
The situation: Manfred [Human Man at Arms 5] is riding his light warhorse, Charger, down a dark path. Waiting in ambush is Hoster [Human Hunter 5], Ragnar [Human Raider 5], and Roberto [Human Rogue 5]. The highwaymen know a knight should be coming through here, but not when.
Determine Awareness
All three ambushers roll Sneak (for Manfred's opposed roll) to remain quiet and Perception (to sense Manfred's approach). Manfred rolls Perception to sense the ambush.
Outcome: Hoster and Ragnar immediately spot the armored knight trotting up on his horse. Roberto didn't notice the armored knight coming and stepped on a twig, alerting Manfred to danger. Since Manfred made a major success (5+) against Roberto (Perception 21 vs Stealth 15), he immediately knows something is up. Roberto is the only one surprised. Everyone rolls initiative.
Surprise Round
Hoster curses Roberto under his breath and lets loose an arrow at Manfred. Manfred has yet to act in the surprise round, so he is still considered flat-footed [Defense 10]. Hoster declares a Called Shot to Weak Point. He looses an arrow at Manfred and rolls a 15 with his longbow attack for a total of 23, hitting Manfred [Flat Footed Defense 10 + 8 for Called Shot = 18]. Manfred's Armor provides only 1/2 protection versus the attack. Hoster rolls 1d8 and gets a 6, adding 1 for a Point Blank Shot, for a total of 7. Manfred's armor only absorbs 4 points of this, so he takes 3 points of damage.
Manfred realizes that the rogue with his pants down is not alone and draws his sword and shield as a move action. Since this is the surprise round, he can only make a move or standard action. He now has his full defense bonus (21) against all attacks. He guides Charger forward as a free action, advancing towards the rogue in the brush.
Ragnar wildly runs out of cover brandishing his battleaxe. Roberto is unaware and remains flat-footed until his action next round.
Round 1
Hoster readies an action, waiting for an opening in Manfred's defense. Manfred sees Ragnar and slices downward with his warsword. He rolls a 2, for a total of 12 (+8 attack with warsword, +2 for advantage - mounted), not enough to strike the wily raider. Manfred makes a Ride check (DC15) to attempt to get Charger to attack, but rolls only a 2 (total of 8).
Ragnar strikes the mounted warrior with his trust battle axe, rolling a 4 (for a total of 9), missing the heavily armored knight. Roberto fumbles with his weapon and moves to the other side of Manfred to attack. He rolls a 12 (total of 19, +5 attack, +2 flank) but cannot get past the knight's shield.
Round 2
Hoster's readied action never triggered, so he continues to wait for an opening. Manfred slices down at the Raider once again, rolling an 11 (total of 21 against a defense of 18) and connecting. The warsword does 2d6 (3,3) damage along with Manfred's strength bonus (+2), a total of 8 wounds. Ragnar's Ringmail absorbs 4 points of it, and 4 points bleed through. Manfred makes his ride check (19 for a total of 25) and Charger enters the fray, but misses with both hoof attacks against Ragnar and the bite against Roberto.
Ragnar grits his teeth and uses his Ferocious Attack ability for the day. It grants him +2 to attack and damage while penalizing him -2 to defense. He rolls an 11 (+7 battleaxe, +2 ferocious attack, +2 flank) for a total of 22, barely hitting Manfred. He rolls an 8 for damage (+2 strength +2 weapon specialization +2 ferocious attack) for 14 points of damage. Manfred subtracts 9 (8 AR +1 Armor Compatibility) and takes 5 wounds. This doesn't exceed his toughness score (7) so he's OK still.
Roberto decides to do a Called Shot to Vitals against the horse. The normal penalty for this is -8, but Roberto's Sneak Attack reduces this to a -6. Roberto rolls an 12 for a total of 17. The mount's normal defense is 11, so this is a hit! A called shot to vitals does maximum damage and reduces the target's toughness by 2 for the blow. The horse takes 7 points of damage (-1 for padded armor) and its toughness is reduced to +10. This is not enough to stun the horse.
Round 3
Hoster clearly sees the opening he wants is not coming, so he changes tactics and aims at the horse. He fires an arrow at Charger, declaring a called shot for vitals. He rolls a 19, for a total of 28. The target defense is 23 (Base 11 +4 soft cover +8 called shot), a hit! Hoster rolls a 6, for a total of 7 (point blank shot), doing 6 more wounds to the horse.
Manfred slices at Ragnar again, rolling a 6 (total of 16), barely hitting the raider because of his defense penalty (18 -2 for ferocious attack). He rolls 11 on the damage dice this time, for a total of 13. Subtracting the Ringmail (AR4), Ragnar takes 9 wounds. His Toughness is only 7, so Ragnar is stunned! He loses his Dodge bonus and can only take a move or standard action. Manfred does not make his Riding check, so Charger does not act.
Ragnar, stunned, tries to attack Manfred but rolls a 2 and misses. Roberto tries to knock Manfred off his horse by initiating a trip attack. This is a touch attack (no shield bonus) and Roberto rolls a 19. Since Roberto does not have the brawl feat, he may not add his Finesse bonus to the unarmed attack. The total is 22, easily hitting the target of 13. Roberto rolls a strength check (12 +1 for strength =13) against Manfred's strength (2 +2 for strength +2 for superior position = 6). Surprisingly, Roberto dismounts the knight and sends him to the ground. Manfred takes 5 points of damage (ignoring armor) for falling off his mount and is prone.
Round 4
Hoster sees his chance and fires at the prone knight. While the knight gets a +4 bonus to defense for being prone and +4 for soft cover, he is otherwise flat-footed. He declares to bypass armor (+8) and fires. He rolls a 14 (+8 attack +1 point blank) for a total of 23, 5 more than his target of 18. He rolls 7 on the die, for 8 points of damage - 4 of which slips through to wound Manfred.
Manfred stands up as a move action and slices at Roberto. He declares Called Shot to Bypass Armor (increase defense by AR x2) and rolls an 11 (+8 attack) for a total of 19, just matching Roberto's modified defense of 19 (13 + AR3 x2). Manfred rolls 12 on the dice, for a total of 14! Since armor was bypassed, Roberto takes all of this damage. What's worse is that this exceeded Roberto's Toughness more than twice (toughness 6) so Roberto is Seriously Injured. He is stunned and takes 1 wound per round of activity until he has been healed.
Ragnar recovers from being stunned and attacks Manfred. He rolls a 12 (+7 attack, +2 flank) for a total of 21, just enough to hit. He does 11 damage, doing 2 more wounds to Manfred.
Roberto, injured and desperate, attempts to grapple the bigger man. He makes a touch melee attack and rolls an 11 for a total of 16 (+3 attack, +2 flank), just enough to initiate. Roberto and Manfred now make an opposed grapple check. Manfred gets a +7 bonus while Roberto only has a +4. Roberto rolls a 9, for a total of 13, while Manfred rolls a 17, for a total of 24. Manfred shrugs off the smaller man. Since Roberto was active this round, he takes a wound from his serious injury.
Round 5
Hoster abandons his bow and moves forward, drawing his shortsword as he charges the knight. He rolls a 19 (+5 attack +2 charge +2 flank) for a total of 28, beating the Manfred's Defense by 7. This normally would not be enough for a critical, but a short sword has an improved threat range (+1) of 7. It's a critical hit and Hoster rolls 8 on two dice for a total of 10 damage. The armor absorbs most of it, but some gets through.
Manfred improves his defense by 3 with combat expertise and attacks the stunned rogue in an attempt to finish him off. He declares a called shot to vitals (-8) and rolls a 15 (+8 attack -8 called shot -3 combat expertise) for a total of 12, hitting the defenseless rogue (defense 10 stunned). The attack does maximum damage (14) and reduces Roberto's toughness by 2 (6-2 = 4). Roberto takes an additional serious wound and is at -4 hit points. Roberto's wounds (-4) equal is current negative toughness, so he passes out.
Ragnar attacks the knight and rolls a 16 (+7 axe +2 flank) for a total of 23. Normally this would hit, but Manfred's increased defense is 24 with Combat Expertise.
Roberto is considered active this round because he was in combat, so he suffers 2 additional wounds for his serious injuries. Next round he will be considered inactive and will only take wounds every minute.
Round 6
Hoster realizes his sword is not strong enough to pierce Manfred's armor, so he initiates a grapple and rolls an 18 to hit (+5 attack +2 flank) for a 25. Manfred's defense is only a 16 against this, without his shield counting. They make an opposed grapple check, but again Manfred throws his attacker off. (Hoster 15+1 vs Manfred 20+2)
Manfred maintains his Combat Expertise at +3 and strikes Ragnar. He rolls a 13 (+8 attack -3 combat expertise) for a total of 18, just enough to hit. He does 7 points of damage (3 after armor) to Ragnar.
Ragnar, at this point, has had enough and makes a withdraw action - running at full speed in the opposite direction.
Round 7
Hoster comes to the same conclusion as Ragnar and makes a withdraw of his own. He turns tail and runs into the trees.
Manfred attempts a Fast Mount (Ride DC20) and rolls an 18, for a total of 24! He successfully mounts Charger with a free action and spurs her forward, drawing his lance as part of the charge. He charges Ragnar on horseback and rolls a 17 (+7 attack +2 charge) for a total of 26, 8 more than Ragnar's defense. A critical while charging does 4d8 points of damage and other modifiers are multipled by 4. Manfred rolls 17 on the dice and adds 8 for strength, totally 25. Subtracting Ragnar's ringmail (AR 4), he takes 21 points of damage. Ragnar is seriously injured and rapidly dying.
Ragnar takes an additional point of damage for the serious injury, is completely disabled and bleeding on the ground.
Aftermath
Manfred dispatched Ragnar and Roberto, but lost Hoster in the forest. Manfred ended the combat with 12 wounds left (out of 31), Hoster was unhurt (30/30), while Roberto and Ragnar died. There are a few things I liked and a few I disliked. The heavy armor (while rare) is very, very effective in combat as are shields. I think,perhaps, there should be some armor modifiers for critical hits and perhaps a lessened impact of shields.
The situation: Manfred [Human Man at Arms 5] is riding his light warhorse, Charger, down a dark path. Waiting in ambush is Hoster [Human Hunter 5], Ragnar [Human Raider 5], and Roberto [Human Rogue 5]. The highwaymen know a knight should be coming through here, but not when.
Determine Awareness
All three ambushers roll Sneak (for Manfred's opposed roll) to remain quiet and Perception (to sense Manfred's approach). Manfred rolls Perception to sense the ambush.
Hoster: 20 +6 Sneak +5 light concealment = 31; Aware: 18 +7 Perception = 25
Ragnar: 15 +6 Sneak +5 light concealment = 26; Aware: 17 +6 Perception = 23
Roberto: 2 +8 Sneak +5 light concealment = 15; Aware: 8 + 6 Perception = 14
Manfred: 15 + 6 Perception = 21
Outcome: Hoster and Ragnar immediately spot the armored knight trotting up on his horse. Roberto didn't notice the armored knight coming and stepped on a twig, alerting Manfred to danger. Since Manfred made a major success (5+) against Roberto (Perception 21 vs Stealth 15), he immediately knows something is up. Roberto is the only one surprised. Everyone rolls initiative.
Hoster 21 (+2 Dexterity, +5 Quick to Arms class ability)
Manfred 19 (+1 Dexterity)
Ragnar 18 (+2 Dexterity, +2 Initiative class ability)
Roberto 16 (+2 Dexterity, +4 Improved Initiative)
Surprise Round
Hoster curses Roberto under his breath and lets loose an arrow at Manfred. Manfred has yet to act in the surprise round, so he is still considered flat-footed [Defense 10]. Hoster declares a Called Shot to Weak Point. He looses an arrow at Manfred and rolls a 15 with his longbow attack for a total of 23, hitting Manfred [Flat Footed Defense 10 + 8 for Called Shot = 18]. Manfred's Armor provides only 1/2 protection versus the attack. Hoster rolls 1d8 and gets a 6, adding 1 for a Point Blank Shot, for a total of 7. Manfred's armor only absorbs 4 points of this, so he takes 3 points of damage.
Manfred realizes that the rogue with his pants down is not alone and draws his sword and shield as a move action. Since this is the surprise round, he can only make a move or standard action. He now has his full defense bonus (21) against all attacks. He guides Charger forward as a free action, advancing towards the rogue in the brush.
Ragnar wildly runs out of cover brandishing his battleaxe. Roberto is unaware and remains flat-footed until his action next round.
Hoster: 30/30 wounds
Manfred: 28/31 wounds
Charger: 55/55 wounds
Ragnar: 30/30 wounds
Roberto: 25/25 wounds
Round 1
Hoster readies an action, waiting for an opening in Manfred's defense. Manfred sees Ragnar and slices downward with his warsword. He rolls a 2, for a total of 12 (+8 attack with warsword, +2 for advantage - mounted), not enough to strike the wily raider. Manfred makes a Ride check (DC15) to attempt to get Charger to attack, but rolls only a 2 (total of 8).
Ragnar strikes the mounted warrior with his trust battle axe, rolling a 4 (for a total of 9), missing the heavily armored knight. Roberto fumbles with his weapon and moves to the other side of Manfred to attack. He rolls a 12 (total of 19, +5 attack, +2 flank) but cannot get past the knight's shield.
Hoster: 30/30 wounds
Manfred: 28/31 wounds
Charger 55/55 wounds
Ragnar: 30/30 wounds
Roberto: 25/25 wounds
Round 2
Hoster's readied action never triggered, so he continues to wait for an opening. Manfred slices down at the Raider once again, rolling an 11 (total of 21 against a defense of 18) and connecting. The warsword does 2d6 (3,3) damage along with Manfred's strength bonus (+2), a total of 8 wounds. Ragnar's Ringmail absorbs 4 points of it, and 4 points bleed through. Manfred makes his ride check (19 for a total of 25) and Charger enters the fray, but misses with both hoof attacks against Ragnar and the bite against Roberto.
Ragnar grits his teeth and uses his Ferocious Attack ability for the day. It grants him +2 to attack and damage while penalizing him -2 to defense. He rolls an 11 (+7 battleaxe, +2 ferocious attack, +2 flank) for a total of 22, barely hitting Manfred. He rolls an 8 for damage (+2 strength +2 weapon specialization +2 ferocious attack) for 14 points of damage. Manfred subtracts 9 (8 AR +1 Armor Compatibility) and takes 5 wounds. This doesn't exceed his toughness score (7) so he's OK still.
Roberto decides to do a Called Shot to Vitals against the horse. The normal penalty for this is -8, but Roberto's Sneak Attack reduces this to a -6. Roberto rolls an 12 for a total of 17. The mount's normal defense is 11, so this is a hit! A called shot to vitals does maximum damage and reduces the target's toughness by 2 for the blow. The horse takes 7 points of damage (-1 for padded armor) and its toughness is reduced to +10. This is not enough to stun the horse.
Hoster: 30/30 wounds
Manfred: 23/31 wounds
Charger 49/55 wounds
Ragnar: 26/30 wounds
Roberto: 25/25 wounds
Round 3
Hoster clearly sees the opening he wants is not coming, so he changes tactics and aims at the horse. He fires an arrow at Charger, declaring a called shot for vitals. He rolls a 19, for a total of 28. The target defense is 23 (Base 11 +4 soft cover +8 called shot), a hit! Hoster rolls a 6, for a total of 7 (point blank shot), doing 6 more wounds to the horse.
Manfred slices at Ragnar again, rolling a 6 (total of 16), barely hitting the raider because of his defense penalty (18 -2 for ferocious attack). He rolls 11 on the damage dice this time, for a total of 13. Subtracting the Ringmail (AR4), Ragnar takes 9 wounds. His Toughness is only 7, so Ragnar is stunned! He loses his Dodge bonus and can only take a move or standard action. Manfred does not make his Riding check, so Charger does not act.
Ragnar, stunned, tries to attack Manfred but rolls a 2 and misses. Roberto tries to knock Manfred off his horse by initiating a trip attack. This is a touch attack (no shield bonus) and Roberto rolls a 19. Since Roberto does not have the brawl feat, he may not add his Finesse bonus to the unarmed attack. The total is 22, easily hitting the target of 13. Roberto rolls a strength check (12 +1 for strength =13) against Manfred's strength (2 +2 for strength +2 for superior position = 6). Surprisingly, Roberto dismounts the knight and sends him to the ground. Manfred takes 5 points of damage (ignoring armor) for falling off his mount and is prone.
Hoster: 30/30 wounds
Manfred: 18/31 wounds - PRONE
Charger 43/55 wounds
Ragnar: 18/30 wounds - STUNNED
Roberto: 25/25 wounds
Round 4
Hoster sees his chance and fires at the prone knight. While the knight gets a +4 bonus to defense for being prone and +4 for soft cover, he is otherwise flat-footed. He declares to bypass armor (+8) and fires. He rolls a 14 (+8 attack +1 point blank) for a total of 23, 5 more than his target of 18. He rolls 7 on the die, for 8 points of damage - 4 of which slips through to wound Manfred.
Manfred stands up as a move action and slices at Roberto. He declares Called Shot to Bypass Armor (increase defense by AR x2) and rolls an 11 (+8 attack) for a total of 19, just matching Roberto's modified defense of 19 (13 + AR3 x2). Manfred rolls 12 on the dice, for a total of 14! Since armor was bypassed, Roberto takes all of this damage. What's worse is that this exceeded Roberto's Toughness more than twice (toughness 6) so Roberto is Seriously Injured. He is stunned and takes 1 wound per round of activity until he has been healed.
Ragnar recovers from being stunned and attacks Manfred. He rolls a 12 (+7 attack, +2 flank) for a total of 21, just enough to hit. He does 11 damage, doing 2 more wounds to Manfred.
Roberto, injured and desperate, attempts to grapple the bigger man. He makes a touch melee attack and rolls an 11 for a total of 16 (+3 attack, +2 flank), just enough to initiate. Roberto and Manfred now make an opposed grapple check. Manfred gets a +7 bonus while Roberto only has a +4. Roberto rolls a 9, for a total of 13, while Manfred rolls a 17, for a total of 24. Manfred shrugs off the smaller man. Since Roberto was active this round, he takes a wound from his serious injury.
Hoster: 30/30 wounds
Manfred: 12/31 wounds
Charger 43/55 wounds
Ragnar: 18/30 wounds
Roberto: 10/25 wounds - STUNNED, 1 SERIOUS INJURY
Round 5
Hoster abandons his bow and moves forward, drawing his shortsword as he charges the knight. He rolls a 19 (+5 attack +2 charge +2 flank) for a total of 28, beating the Manfred's Defense by 7. This normally would not be enough for a critical, but a short sword has an improved threat range (+1) of 7. It's a critical hit and Hoster rolls 8 on two dice for a total of 10 damage. The armor absorbs most of it, but some gets through.
Manfred improves his defense by 3 with combat expertise and attacks the stunned rogue in an attempt to finish him off. He declares a called shot to vitals (-8) and rolls a 15 (+8 attack -8 called shot -3 combat expertise) for a total of 12, hitting the defenseless rogue (defense 10 stunned). The attack does maximum damage (14) and reduces Roberto's toughness by 2 (6-2 = 4). Roberto takes an additional serious wound and is at -4 hit points. Roberto's wounds (-4) equal is current negative toughness, so he passes out.
Ragnar attacks the knight and rolls a 16 (+7 axe +2 flank) for a total of 23. Normally this would hit, but Manfred's increased defense is 24 with Combat Expertise.
Roberto is considered active this round because he was in combat, so he suffers 2 additional wounds for his serious injuries. Next round he will be considered inactive and will only take wounds every minute.
Hoster: 30/30 wounds
Manfred: 11/31 wounds
Charger 43/55 wounds
Ragnar: 18/30 wounds
Roberto: -6/25 wounds - DISABLED, 2 SERIOUS INJURIES
Round 6
Hoster realizes his sword is not strong enough to pierce Manfred's armor, so he initiates a grapple and rolls an 18 to hit (+5 attack +2 flank) for a 25. Manfred's defense is only a 16 against this, without his shield counting. They make an opposed grapple check, but again Manfred throws his attacker off. (Hoster 15+1 vs Manfred 20+2)
Manfred maintains his Combat Expertise at +3 and strikes Ragnar. He rolls a 13 (+8 attack -3 combat expertise) for a total of 18, just enough to hit. He does 7 points of damage (3 after armor) to Ragnar.
Ragnar, at this point, has had enough and makes a withdraw action - running at full speed in the opposite direction.
Hoster: 30/30 wounds
Manfred: 11/31 wounds
Charger 43/55 wounds
Ragnar: 15/30 wounds
Roberto: -6/25 wounds - DISABLED, 2 SERIOUS INJURIES
Round 7
Hoster comes to the same conclusion as Ragnar and makes a withdraw of his own. He turns tail and runs into the trees.
Manfred attempts a Fast Mount (Ride DC20) and rolls an 18, for a total of 24! He successfully mounts Charger with a free action and spurs her forward, drawing his lance as part of the charge. He charges Ragnar on horseback and rolls a 17 (+7 attack +2 charge) for a total of 26, 8 more than Ragnar's defense. A critical while charging does 4d8 points of damage and other modifiers are multipled by 4. Manfred rolls 17 on the dice and adds 8 for strength, totally 25. Subtracting Ragnar's ringmail (AR 4), he takes 21 points of damage. Ragnar is seriously injured and rapidly dying.
Ragnar takes an additional point of damage for the serious injury, is completely disabled and bleeding on the ground.
Hoster: 30/30 wounds
Manfred: 11/31 wounds
Charger 43/55 wounds
Ragnar: -7/30 wounds - DISABLED, 1 SERIOUS INJURY
Roberto: -6/25 wounds - DISABLED, 2 SERIOUS INJURIES
Aftermath
Manfred dispatched Ragnar and Roberto, but lost Hoster in the forest. Manfred ended the combat with 12 wounds left (out of 31), Hoster was unhurt (30/30), while Roberto and Ragnar died. There are a few things I liked and a few I disliked. The heavy armor (while rare) is very, very effective in combat as are shields. I think,perhaps, there should be some armor modifiers for critical hits and perhaps a lessened impact of shields.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Combat Goals - To Save or Not To Save
The basic idea of combat in E2E is for it to be streamlined and dangerous, but not have player characters dropping dead like flies. The Shock mechanic from A Game of Thrones is nice - basically damage exceeding the shock value (1/2 constitution) has further effects on the character - serious injuries (bleeding wounds) or what have you. The basic mechanic is nice and is one I've been experimenting with.
The problem is you can't track too many effects or combat slows down to a crawl. The question is whether or not to implement a save mechanic (Fortitude) to resist a multitude of effects or just have effects kick in at certain levels. For example:
Method 1 (Save Mechanic)
If damage > toughness, Fortitude DC 12 + damage - toughness (in other words, 12 + the excess damage). I implemented the original mechanic similar to how charms work in magic. Basically the save is against a moderate daze effect (Stun). A successful save reduces this to dazed. Succeeding by 5 or more eliminates the effect. Failing by 10 or more will increase the effect to staggered. 15 or more is an instant kill.
Method 2 (Magnitude Mechanic)
If damage > toughness, the target is stunned (if the damage is nonlethal, he is dazed). If damage > toughness x2, the target is staggered. I suppose toughness x3 could be death, if necessary.
The problem here is that it takes some of the control away from the player - no save, which is like a safety harness. The ability to roll a die gives a feeling of power, whether it is justified or not. The save mechanic is comprehensive, but at the expense of time.
The problem is you can't track too many effects or combat slows down to a crawl. The question is whether or not to implement a save mechanic (Fortitude) to resist a multitude of effects or just have effects kick in at certain levels. For example:
Method 1 (Save Mechanic)
If damage > toughness, Fortitude DC 12 + damage - toughness (in other words, 12 + the excess damage). I implemented the original mechanic similar to how charms work in magic. Basically the save is against a moderate daze effect (Stun). A successful save reduces this to dazed. Succeeding by 5 or more eliminates the effect. Failing by 10 or more will increase the effect to staggered. 15 or more is an instant kill.
Method 2 (Magnitude Mechanic)
If damage > toughness, the target is stunned (if the damage is nonlethal, he is dazed). If damage > toughness x2, the target is staggered. I suppose toughness x3 could be death, if necessary.
The problem here is that it takes some of the control away from the player - no save, which is like a safety harness. The ability to roll a die gives a feeling of power, whether it is justified or not. The save mechanic is comprehensive, but at the expense of time.
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