Advanced Combat Example

[RosenMcStern]

As promised, here is an Advanced Combat example, starring the same Martian heroes we encounter in most of the non-combat examples in the book.

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While infiltrating the slaver base in an abandoned Radium mine, our Martian heroes are attacked by two robotic guards just seconds after passing beyond a bottomless shaft that blocked their way. The agile nomad Vorgin has won the DEX-based conflict to pass the shaft and helped his city-dwelling comrades Fuyoba and Prof. Rathas across it, while suffering no Consequences, so the Narrator cannot impose the disadvantages of surprise on the party. The heroes have just their weapons unready while the two androids appear at the far end of an underground corridor. Yet the three have their retreat path blocked by the shaft, and must stand their ground and fight.

The opposition is at Close distance and advancing. Prof. Rathas will fire his Radium Pistol after drawing it (Opening Move Ranged Attack, SR DEX+20, that is 36). Fuyoba will fire his own pistol (Opening Move Ranged Attack, SR DEX+20, that is 38) and then draw his sabre and wait for the androids to charge. Vorgin, expecting his hand crossbow to have no effect on the cybernetic assailants, will draw his axe and wait for the androids to charge in (Opening Move Close Combat, SR Melee+Axe reach of 4, that is 18), shielding Rathas as he fires. The androids surprise everyone by declaring a ranged attack against the two heroes who have hand to hand weapons (Opening Move Ranged Attack, SR 32).

Strike Ranks are now counted down.

SR 38: Fuyoba draws his pistol (result: Fuyoba SR 33)

SR 36: Prof. Rathas draws, too (result: Rathas SR 31).

SR 32: The androids reveal an energy projector hidden in their chest and fire a deadly electric discharge (4d6 damage – ouch!). The one aiming at Fuyoba misses and the only consequence is a loss of 5 SR in a failed Dodge attempt, while the lightning aimed at Rathas strikes home with a roll of 47. Rathas rolls Take Cover, at his raw Agility skill as he lacks the Trait, but nevertheless succeeds with 13, hiding in a lateral corridor. The android rolled higher and so can use a Glancing Blow effect to inflict a single d6 of damage on him, rolling a 4 which does not equal the Professor’s Toughness and thus cannot have permanent effects. Between the 5 SR for dodging and the 4 points of pain, the Professor loses 9 SR (result: Fuyoba SR 28, Rathas SR 22, androids SR 12).

SR 28: Fuyoba fires and misses but the android does not bother to dodge as it is not in its programming (result: Fuyoba SR 8, android SR 12).

SR 22: Rathas fires from cover and hits with a 52 that grants him an Advantage and thus two Combat Effects. He goes for Maximise Damage and Impale, which grant him a total of 4d8 damage, with one die rolling an automatic 8. The total damage is 24 points, and even with the 16 points of armour granted by its exoskeleton the android receives damage in excess its Toughness and goes down, its chest exploding in a stream of sparkles (result: Rathas SR 2 and one android down).

SR 18: Vorgin draws his axe (result: Vorgin SR 14).

SR 14: Still Vorgin’s turn and since no opponent is in range he opts to Wait and converts the 8 SR needed for an attack with his weapon into a Free Action (result: Vorgin SR 6 with a Free Action to spend).

SR 12: The android spends 5 SR to change mode to Movement/Non-combat (result: android SR 7)

SR 8: Fuyoba could fire again, but prefers to draw his sabre (4 SR) to prepare for the android charge. As he has the Sword&Pistol stunt, he can freely use melee weapons after a ranged Opening Move without losing SR for switching modes, like the android did (result: Fuyoba SR 4 ).

SR 7: the android charges with the vicious chainsaw that replaces its hand, choosing Fuyoba as the target. The fighter uses his last 4 SR to parry, opposing a 54 to the android’s successful 25. Fuyoba has the Fencing stunt and can automatically use the Keep Distance Effect on any sword parry, thus forcing his opponent to pay all its remaining 7 SR instead of the normal 5 for a charge. He also won an Advantage Combat Effect and chooses Daze to impose a Penalty on its next roll (result: both Fuyoba and the android SR 0, the latter is Dazed).

SR 6: Vorgin can now act and, as the fight takes place in a narrow corridor, while not yet engaged in melee he is within his Move in metres from an opponent, which allows him to perform a Close Combat attack without moving or charging. He uses his Free Action to swing his axe. Scoring an Advantage with 50 versus the android’s failed Parry (the creature is out of SR and Dazed, so it parries with a Double Penalty), he wins two Advantage Combat Actions, choosing Mighty Blow and Maximise Damage to inflict maximum possible damage on the enemy. Unfortunately, the 10 points of damage so scored simply bounce off the creature’s armour, even after hitting the weakest part of it with a unit die roll of 0 (result: Vorgin SR 6).

SR 6: Vorgin again as the Free Attack cost him no SR, but another axe slash would cost 8 SR, more than he actually has to spend, and he does not want to risk striking with a Penalty against such an invulnerable opponent. The round ends with Vorgin and Rathas forfeiting their remaining SR.

The turmoil of the first round when combatants fire ranged weapons and move to strike range is over. The new round begins with Fuyoba, Vorgin and the android locked in melee from the beginning and having to choose Close Combat as their Opening Move, acting on SR 24, 18 and 13 respectively. Professor Rathas is virtually out of the fight as he is no physical fighter and firing Radium bullets which could hit your allies is not a good idea.

SR 24: Fuyoba spends 7 SR and strikes first, rolling 42 for his sabre slash against the creature’s 56. The fighter’s Advantage wins the exchange, although the android’s higher roll downgrades his victory to a normal success, and Fuyoba chooses a Take Initiative Combat Effect to increase his enemy’s SR expenditure to 7 instead of the normal 2 for a limb parry (End result: Fuyoba SR 17, android SR 6).

SR 18: Vorgin strikes next, spends 8 SR for an axe slash and misses with a 92 while the android spends 2 SR and succeeds in parrying with a 38, dropping Vorgin’s SR by another 3 points with a Take Initiative Combat Effect (end result: Vorgin SR 7, android SR 4).

SR 17: Fuyoba uses 7 SR to roll a 75 versus a failed parry that costs the android 2 more SR. As his opponent is down to just 2 SR and preparing to fire electricity again on the following round, Fuyoba goes for a daring tactics to finish it off quickly and uses Stun and Mighty Blow as his two Combat Effects. Hitting with the hilt of the sabre, Fuyoba ensures that 2 points of impact damage pass through the android’s impenetrable armour. Even though the blow has no lasting consequences, the impact takes away the android’s remaining two SR as its circuitry resets for a fraction of a second, leaving it open to a finishing blow (End result: Fuyoba SR 10, android SR 0 and temporarily stunned).

SR 10: Fuyoba hits with a 24 versus a failed parry, and chooses a Coup de Grace effect against the stunned android, doing 2d8 impaling damage directly against the android Toughness and totally bypassing the creature powerful armour. With a damage roll of 10, the Martian’s sabre strikes deep through a joint in the android neck and the second cybernetic creature stops moving, too.

[Jakob]

Thanks, definitely looks fast and intense!

Two Questions: Life Points don't seem to figure into the example - is that intended? Are they just unlikely to come up? It seems that one of the androids just goes down as soon as his toughness is surpassed (instead of just dropping to 0 LP), is that RAW for adversaries or something that the GM in this example would have decided on the fly?

Are Hit Locations used in the example? It seems not, but then there's this:

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Unfortunately, the 10 points of damage so scored simply bounce off the creature’s armour, even after hitting the weakest part of it with a unit die roll of 0

Does the index die provide the hit location in close combat? I haven't read all through advanced combat yet (still don't have a printed book), but I'd still like to get a better grip at the basic concepts ...

[Zit]

Armour has a coverage value, either on a hit location if you use the rule, or for the overall armour if not. The unit die indicates which part of the armour (not of the body) you hit. This is the totally unofficially called by myself "chainmail bikini rule". As option you can roll 1d10 for it, but this unnecessarily increases dice rolling.

 

Do robots have Life Points ? One of the side bar comments says "Some types of monsters do not have Life Points at all." I think robots follow the same rule as items, where hits reduce the toughness until 0 instead of reducing Life points, which disables the item.

[RosenMcStern]

1 hour ago, Jakob said:

Thanks, definitely looks fast and intense!

Two Questions: Life Points don't seem to figure into the example - is that intended? Are they just unlikely to come up? It seems that one of the androids just goes down as soon as his toughness is surpassed (instead of just dropping to 0 LP), is that RAW for adversaries or something that the GM in this example would have decided on the fly?

This example is a bit peculiar, as the two creatures which suffer wounds are cybernetic, and thus do not suffer from LP loss when wounded. Moreover, when your Toughness is exceeded, you must roll Endurance or be disabled. Only if you pass your Endurance check (or if you are hit in a non-vital part when using localised damage) do you start losing Life Points as a representation of bleeding and pain slowly wearing you off. If you fail your Endurance check, you are out instantly.

In this case, the Narrator ruling is simply that these two cybernetic creatures, being unable to acquire the Endurance Trait and not suffering from LP loss, do not roll at all: they go down as soon as their Toughness is matched or overcome by damage. A living opponent would have rolled, dropping to zero or less LP in case of success. But a living opponent without that huge amount of steel skin, if hit by twenty-four points of Radium damage, would have rather been vaporised by damage in excess of double Toughness.

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Are Hit Locations used in the example? It seems not, but then there's this:

Does the index die provide the hit location in close combat? I haven't read all through advanced combat yet (still don't have a printed book), but I'd still like to get a better grip at the basic concepts ...

Localised damage is not used in this example. The reference to "the weakest spot" means that the roll of 0 for the unit die intercepts the weakest part of armour, if any. Unfortunately, the droid armour in this example is a flat 16/0+, which means there is no "armour gap" that can be hit by chance. The only way of hitting through the exoskeleton is through the Stun and Coup de Grace effects, as explained in the example.

[Jakob]

2 hours ago, RosenMcStern said:

 

Localised damage is not used in this example. The reference to "the weakest spot" means that the roll of 0 for the unit die intercepts the weakest part of armour, if any. Unfortunately, the droid armour in this example is a flat 16/0+, which means there is no "armour gap" that can be hit by chance. The only way of hitting through the exoskeleton is through the Stun and Coup de Grace effects, as explained in the example.

That's interesting - hadn't read that part of the rules yet, sounds like an elegant way to allow for bypassing armour, especially if you play without hit locations. I'm always a friend of getting as much information as possible out of a die roll, so determining something like this based on the attack roll sounds like a good idea.

[RosenMcStern]

And there is more. The "coverage roll" mechanic allows you to differentiate between different kinds of armours made of the same materials. For instance, if you look at the armour worn by the "Conquistadores" in the sample scenario, you will see that it is as tough as a full plate (8 points), but it works at full effectiveness only against missile fire, that suffers a +2 to the unit die when determining if you hit the "weak spot" (the unarmoured back or side of the soldier, in this case). In other words, that armour is as good as a full gothic plate against bullets - it is actually designed with bullets in mind - and only shows its potential weakness in melee, when your opponent can aim at the unarmoured spots that missile fire cannot target.

[Atgxtg]

This looks interesting. I've noticed that quite a few things cause someone to "loose" Strike Ranks. Other than possibly affecting the turn sequence, do loss of SRs have other effects? For instance could someone lose his attack if his SR was reduced to 0 or less? 

 

Oh, and I think it's a cheap shot that the android weapons don't take any SRs to ready. Not even so much as 1SR to open a concealed panel, What company makes those things, and do they sell a printer?

[RosenMcStern]

2 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

This looks interesting. I've noticed that quite a few things cause someone to "loose" Strike Ranks. Other than possibly affecting the turn sequence, do loss of SRs have other effects? For instance could someone lose his attack if his SR was reduced to 0 or less?

OI course. Once you are down to zero SR, you cannot initiate any proactive action. And reactions are made at a Penalty, and cost Life Points, which might further erode Strike Rank on the following round.

A typical round of melee combat sees one side gain a tactical advantage by "wearing up" the other side's SR, and then placing the finishing blow when the enemy suffers from a Penalty. In Revolution Advanced Combat, you don't usually wait for the dice to decree that your opponent missed a defence, you cause his failure with a cunning use of effects and tactics.

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Oh, and I think it's a cheap shot that the android weapons don't take any SRs to ready. Not even so much as 1SR to open a concealed panel, What company makes those things, and do they sell a printer?

You know, it's Precursor Technology. Modern day androids use cheap Terran components that tend to break up every other shot.

[Atgxtg]

5 hours ago, RosenMcStern said:

OI course. Once you are down to zero SR, you cannot initiate any proactive action. And reactions are made at a Penalty, and cost Life Points, which might further erode Strike Rank on the following round.

A typical round of melee combat sees one side gain a tactical advantage by "wearing up" the other side's SR, and then placing the finishing blow when the enemy suffers from a Penalty. In Revolution Advanced Combat, you don't usually wait for the dice to decree that your opponent missed a defence, you cause his failure with a cunning use of effects and tactics.

That's intriguing. It looks like you are using SRs similar to how AD&D claimed Hit points were being used. It has possibilities. Are there ways to recover or otherwise raise your SR during combat? 

 

5 hours ago, RosenMcStern said:

You know, it's Precursor Technology. Modern day androids use cheap Terran components that tend to break up every other shot.

From ACME's Robotics Devision. Coyotes swear by (at at) them. 

[RosenMcStern]

12 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

That's intriguing. It looks like you are using SRs similar to how AD&D claimed Hit points were being used.

Exactly

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Are there ways to recover or otherwise raise your SR during combat? 

You go back to full SR (minus negative Life Points) at the start of each round. Strike Rank loss represents temporary loss of momentum for that round - if your opponent does not take advantage of it in that split second, you will recover at the end of the six-second cycle. Unless you have started fatiguing...

[Atgxtg]

3 hours ago, RosenMcStern said:

Exactly

Interesting. There was something I wanted to try in order to simulate the sort of duels we see in films, but couldn't figure out what to use as "currency". Using Strike Ranks that way was inspired. 

3 hours ago, RosenMcStern said:

You go back to full SR (minus negative Life Points) at the start of each round. Strike Rank loss represents temporary loss of momentum for that round - if your opponent does not take advantage of it in that split second, you will recover at the end of the six-second cycle. Unless you have started fatiguing...

How about wounds? I assume they would be treated like (or cause) fatigue? 

 

I'm going to have to take another look at the SRD.