Re: Changing objectives

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 21:10:21 -0700

> >But a
> >marginal victoey puts you in a position in which you can kill them at
your
> >leisure (accept their surrender, put them in fetters, and then whack
their
> >head off. Simple, effective, and used lots of times in the real world).
>
> I hope Roderick isn't saying this as Official Ruling, but as
> Narrator-at-large. The very rules for parting shots and CdGs imply
> that it is *not* done "at your leisure", since the opponent has a
> chance to resist.

As Narrator At Large.

Fettering your opponent, then killing them, is *not* a CdG. The CdG is the mid-combat "make sure they stay down" type of action. It's done when you think the enemy *might* come back into the combat via a Final Action (or your own defeat) and you want to make sure that he doesn't.

Killing a fettered prisoner is (nearly always) an Automatic Success. If the fettered prisoner is a player hero (or an important NPC), I definitely *would* allow the prisoner to try to escape/overpower the guard/whatever rather than allowing the villain to slay him out of hand. This sort of action doesn't take place in the middle of a fight, usually it is after the main fight is over, often at the villain's lair (of course, true villains build elaborate death traps that "you will never escape", explain their plan for world domination, then leave you to your fate. Pragmatic villains put an axe through your head).

RR