RE: Neat idea

From: Bruce Ferrie <bruce_at_...>
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2003 23:45:51 -0000

On Wednesday, February 19, 2003 11:25 PM, flynnkd2 <flynnkd_at_...>  wrote:
> Someone posted the idea of a vampire having a "Cant be killed except
> by decapitation" skill, thats really a net idea.

It was Benedict, I think, and it was a very good idea indeed...

> One problem I have with using it...
>
> A player has his sword out and announces a normal attack, 10AP. The
> vampire defends with "Cant be killed". The superior vampire
> obviously wins and inflicts damage back on the attacker... how does
> one rationalise such a result with a skill that is essentially an
> invulnerability... why does it do damage? I can sort of see ways
> but thought it useful to get other comments...

The thing to remember is that a loss of AP does not necessarily represent "damage" in the same way as a loss of hit points would in most rules systems. Instead, it represents a loss of "advantage" - so when the player hero loses AP by trying to attack the invulnerable vampire, we could explain it in a number of ways. For example..

For a small AP loss:

• He thought he was landing a solid blow, but has now left himself wide open for a counterattack.
• The fact that his swordblow stopped dead rather than cutting the vampire in two has jarred him and left him off balance.
• He was startled by the ineffectiveness of what should have been a solid blow and is stunned for a few moments.

For a larger AP loss:

• Hitting the apparently rock hard skin of the nasty vampire jars the sword out of his hand.
• The sword breaks against the vampire's invulnerable flesh.

For a really large AP loss:

• The impact of hitting the vampire's unyielding flesh sprains the hero's wrist (or shoulder or whatever).

For an absolutely catastophic AP loss:

• Not only does the hero's sword break, but a broken shard ricochets back and he is stabbed by his own weapon! (I've seen something like this happen in a pub fight when someone was breaking a pint glass on the edge of a table).
• The hero faints or has a seizure from the sheer eldritch horror of the vampire. (This one would be particularly suitable for a Victorian gothic game, actually).

In addition, you could always rationalise the AP loss by deciding that the vampire smiles fiendishly (and sharply) wades through the hero's ineffective blows and strikes him down. Just because the vampire is the "defender" in the action and isn't directly using an attack as such, doesn't mean that we can't explain it that way once the dice stop moving.

I hope this helps out.

Regards,

Bruce