Long Drawnout Combat (was Durations of Edges)

From: Wesley Quadros <wquadros_at_...>
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 08:16:40 -0700

hw-rules_at_egroups.com wrote:

> Message: 5
> Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 17:05:28 -0500
> From: Clay Luther <claycle_at_...>
> Subject: Durations of Edges/Bonus, Unrelated Actions, Combat
>
>
> 3) On our first night, combat proved quite exhausting for us and a
> little tedious. First, let's talk about the tediousness. Because the
> players were closely matched to the opposition, they were NOT willing to
> wager extravagent AP bids in combat; rather, they were happy to let the
> default 3AP carry them along. And even though the opposition was more
> agressive (high AP wagers), the combat drug on out for 30 minutes or
> more as the sides *whittled* each other down. This tediousness lead to
> exhaustion because we were trying to describe the combat vividly --
> being good "story-tellers" -- but not *specifically brutally*, as the HW
> rules advise. After a while, with our mental stores of creatively
> describing minor combat results were exhausted, combat descriptions
> degenerated to "I swing using 3AP -- oh, you win, he forfeits 3AP".

We usually keep to the default (ours is 5AP) until we know how strong the opposition is. Then we bid big (we 4, 30AP bids on Sunday and one 58). If we are close in skill to the oposition then we will spend a plot point to get the approrpiate result.

>
>
> 4) During this major, drawn out battle, one player said "This game is
> not detailed enough!" in exasperation. He meant, he really missed
> graphic combat explanations. As a group, they found the idea of
> whittling an opponent to "Dazed", then being forced to take the risk
> action of a coup de grace to actually kill the opponent somewhat
> distasteful. To paraphrase one player, "I'd rather chop his head off in
> one mighty blow than stab a down opponent through the heart." Even
> though I tried to explain that you could certainly perform the former
> action if you wagered enough AP, the player shot back that having only a
> 60% chance of succeeding greatly discouraged them from taking any such
> risks (ie, why give your opponent a 40% chance of gaining 14AP!??)

I think this is part of the Narrator's place here. In our game if the npc is piddling then they die when they hit -1AP. Even Major NPC's do not keep fighting when they fall below 0AP. Also, if there is an NPC on the ground in front of us and we tell the narrator that we kill him then he is dead. We don't have to roll for it.

Cheers,

Wesley

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