olskool

On 9/19/2022 at 4:53 AM, DreadDomain said:

Mythras never used strike ranks and even when its direct predecessors (MRQ1/2, RQ6) used "strike rank" as a term in a nod to RQ1/2/3, it has only always been an initiative system not unlike DEX ranks in BRP (except that it is based on the average of DEX and INT). Mythras doesn't use weapon SR but weapon length, like Magic World does.

As for hit locations, one could use general hit points as it is done in M-Space. I have not tried it so I don't know how well it works.

A quick and easy hybrid system of location HP and one HP total is to use Locations (rolled by D20 as per BRP/Runequest 2) with a "Damage Multiplier" and a total HP model.  So typical Damage Multipliers would be...

Head = X 2

Chest = X 1

Abdomen = X 1.5

Arms = X 0.5

Legs = X 0.5  

   These multipliers would then be applied to any damage and the total subtracted from the HP total. 

I just added weapon length, known as REACH,  to my old Runequest campaign (using V2 and V3 rules) based on weapon type.

Short Reach = 1m

Medium Reach = 2m

Long Reach = 3m 

Extreme Reach = 4M

This Reach assumes the distance from your own 1-meter hex that you can reach an opponent WITHOUT using a MOVE action/distance (where any movement is assumed to be part of the attack).  Once combat gets into 1/2 the listed REACH of a weapon.  That user suffers a penalty (I use DIFFICULTY SHIFTS) to attack.  IF REACH is double the opponent's REACH, then your opponent suffers a penalty. 

On 4/13/2022 at 5:14 PM, andresni said:

I like this. In this way, someone with a large HP pool would need more damage to give a wound. If we assume for example 3 tracks if we want to model physical injury, sanity, and resolution/grit/willpower, and a person is out of commision if one track reaches 100%, or perhaps if the combined total is >100%.

So, to get a minor wound (10% on the physical track), you need to take say 1/4th damage. 20% is 1/2, 50% is 4/5th. Maybe. The bigger and stronger you are, the more it takes. Damage below 1/4th could be just 1% to get that slow grind John McClain goes through in Die Hard. Do a similar thing for sanity (sanity points) and grit (power points).

These percentages are then subtracted from any relevant rolls.

Seems like a happy medium between book keeping/crunch and ease of play.

Permanent damage can be included easily by increasing the minimum starting point on one of these tracks.

Another way to do this is to use the Location Hit Point totals from Runequest as Wound Thresholds.  That 4-point Arm takes a wound when hit.  The ACTUAL WOUND would be...

Lightly Wounded = HP or less

Moderately Wounded = HP + 1 up to 2 X HP.

Seriously Wounded = 2 X HP +1 up to 3 X HP.

Critically Wounded = 3 X HP + 1 up to 4 X HP.

Deadly Wound = 4 X HP or more.

 DAMAGE EFFECTS could be...

Lightly Wounded: 

Only a loss of 1 Strike Rank from the pain of injury.  Essentially a free wound level involving scratches and bruises.

Moderately Wounded: 

The real start of penalties.  Take 1 penalty to Strike Rank (just like Light Wounds) but you also suffer a Skill reduction. My crew uses halving and doubling so we reduce Skills to 3/4 Skill here.

Seriously Wounded: 

This hit penalizes SR by 2 and HALVES Skill ability.  IF you are hit for Serious Damage in a single blow, you must roll under your CON or that location is Disabled until you get treatment. 

Critically Wounded:

     IF a person gets hit for a Critical Wound, the location is disabled until healing occurs.  SR is reduced by 3 & Skills to 1/4.  A Critical Wound inflicted in a single blow may amputate the limb in question.  Roll Con to avoid this.  The PC may suffer permanent debilitating effects from a single blow delivering a Critical Wound.  Have the PC ROLL OVER their current STR, DEX, and CON, to avoid the loss of 1 point of each. 

Deadly Wound: 

  The person in out cold.  Make a CON roll to SURVIVE!  Any single blow reaching this level WILL cause you to roll for loss of characteristics as above.     

There's how I do killing damage in my game.   

I'd go real world here.  A typical human being is SIZ 10 on average.  The average human is 18" from shouldertip to shouldertip.  Some humans are smaller or larger but the biggest humans (think Shaq) don't exceed 28" from shouldertip to shouldertip.  There are 39" in a meter and 36" in a yard.  I consider these to be FUNCTIONALLY IDENTICAL in wargaming (ie you can use EITHER measurement without modifications).  knowing that a typical human is only 1/2 a meter wide is only part of the story though.  We NEED space to move our limbs and even breath freely.  Thus most humans will need a full yard or meter to feel comfortable standing.  Since even the largest human won't occupy a complete meter, I'd say 1 meter per 20 SIZ (or any fraction of it) should be adequate.  This will include the space needed to "feel comfortable" (and not constrained) in that area.  

On 4/1/2022 at 9:20 PM, KPhan2121 said:

The main problem with that way that it only lasts for 5.6 minutes, it's still way too short for something a sci fi warrior is going to rely upon for defense over more traditional armor. It seems more like some experimental tech with loads of problems instead of something you'd see in Halo, Mass Effect or Dune. I think energy armor in those sci fi settings where the shields are always on has a workaround where if the energy armor isn't actively absorbing damage it's in some low power mode until it takes an attack.

Still, I think there should still be different rates of energy consumption when you have a shield with 20 AP compared to one with only 5 AP. So my idea was to have an hourly (or another time increment that isn't just a combat round) charge consumption rate based on the AP of the energy armor while its on and not taking damage.

You can pull a FASA Star Trek RPG shields system.  You will have a Maximum Shield Strength.  This is a number from 1 to 25 and represents the maximum damage the Shield can absorb.  This number is set by the wearer, based on available power and anticipated threat levels.

Then you have your Shield Efficiency Rating.  This number ranges from 1 to 5 and represents the number of Shield Points each point of power creates.  So an Efficiency 5 Shield would generate a STR 20 Shield for just 4 points of power.   When ACTIVELY absorbing damage, this cost would be per round where the user was hit.  When on but "at rest" (not absorbing damage) the Shield's cost would be in power points per HOUR.  

Finally you can have your Shield Energy Absorption Rate set from 1 to 10.  When a Shield absorbs damage, it converts that attack into other energy to prevent it from causing damage.  The most common byproduct of this conversion is HEAT (and light), which will cause the Shield to glow as it discharges that heat (and light).  However, A Shield can only absorb a certain percentage of energy before it lets some of it through.  The Absorption Rate is the number of damage points the shield will absorb before letting 1 point through to the item it protects.  So a 5 Absortion Rate would block 10 points of a 12-point hit and let 2 points through to the PC. 

That's how I would do Shields in a Sci Fi BRP.

This is a good approximation of RuneQuest.  Remember to listen to the song as the credits roll, the song is practically a sequel! 

https://youtu.be/V7v_TdLviUE

I should also have elaborated on HOW my Parry and Dodge systems actually work.  When you ACTIVELY PARRY (not ward) with a weapon or a shield, you take that shield's or weapon's DAMAGE ROLL (D4 for bucklers, D6 for small, D8 for medium, and D10 for large shields) and add it to 1/10th of your Parrying skill (rounding up) to see how much Damage you actually block.  So actively parrying (rolling against your Parry skill) a blow with a 50% skill and a medium-sized shield like a Kite Shield would block 1D8 + 5 points of damage.   Blocking a blow with a Shortsword and a Skill of 70% would block 1D6 +7 points of damage. 

DODGE is a specialty skill where the Skill user has been trained in advanced movements to avoid being hit.  It will reduce damage by Skill/10 (rounding up) + 1.  So a Dodge skill of 50% could evade 6 points of damage on a successful roll.  

Warding (passively guarding a location with a weapon or shield) only stops an amount of Damage equal to the weapon or shield's AP.  No die is rolled and no skill is added.

In my homebrewed Runequest/BRP rules, Shields are classified as weapons with an Armor Value and Hit points.  Exceed the AP rating of the shield and it loses 1 HP.  Any damage NOT stopped by the AP goes on through to the PC (the shield damage is assumed to come from the damage that is stopped).  I allow my shield users to Attack (bashing with the face of or the edge of the shield) as well as Parry with their shield.  I set my base Parry and Attack chances at:

Buckler (or a reinforced gauntlet used to block) 05%, 50% chance to cover a blow to the arm IF the user wards with their shield.

Small Shield  10%,  Wards Arm and 50% chance to cover one other body part that the user wards. 

Medium Shield 20%,  Wards Arm and one Location of choice

Large Shield 40%,  Wards Arm and TWO locations that are adjacent to each other (ie chest and head or chest and abdomen).

The amount of AP and HP a shield has are dependent on the materials that shield is made from (ie wicker, hide, wood, bronze, or a combination of materials will have different AP and HP).    

20 minutes ago, jayeff said:

 

haha ok fair point. the clue is literaly in your forum name too

I'll give AGE a look. It doesn't *have* to be 3d6 but 2 wasnt enough to generate interesting results and 5 generated them too often. The dice exploding isn't needed really, if 3 dice thow up a 6s that could be a 3pt stunt. Having 1 dice a seperate colour opens up other possibilities. I dont think the dice app we are using in Discord can pull that one off. Which is shame as it ticks a few boxes. Even if I can't implement AGE's exact dice mechanic, the list of stunts/moves etc could prove useful.

You can find used copies of FANTASY AGE online for about 10 bucks.  It's a newer game and still in print (I got mine at my local game store for $25 in hardcover).  You also get all the rules in a single book! 

3 hours ago, jayeff said:

@olskool

ok. a lot to unpack there

 

You seem to quite like 'old school' systems. Which is fine. But isn't really my bag. I prefer to go a bit more minimalist. (try to anyway, doesnt always work!)

 

After some more tinkering I have this:

Roll 3d6 and add to skill/whatever.  Players may have small bonus or penalty for anything that hinders/adds to their ability.

The target number is the following, which may be modified for anything that complicates the objective (and isnt something directly related to the character)

Easy task 10 / Skilled task 15 / Difficult  task 20 / Challenging task 25 / Monumental task 30

Any 6s are a fringe benefit, even if the task failed or in addition to being successful. Any 1s are a complication in addition to failing, or in spite of being successful.

An obvious 'problem' with those numbers is that an average skilled person will always succeed at an easy task. But tbh they should. The fun starts when they roll a few 1s.

Of course I like "old school" systems, we're in a BRP forum.  The original Runequest was written in the '70s!

If you're set on using the 3D6 format, take a look at Green Ronan Publishing's FANTASY AGE rpg.  This system rolls 3D6 but it does so with a twist.  Two of the D6s are white and the third D6 is another color (red, blue, black... it doesn't matter).  The system uses an ascending Difficulty Level and D&D 5e's Difficulties can be easily used (Fantasy Age's difficulties are oddly numbered, so I wouldn't use them).  So an EASY Task would be 5, an AVERAGE Task 10, a DIFFICULT Task 15, and so on.  You roll the 3D6, and add any Skill or Attribute bonuses to that roll.  If you equal or exceed the Task's target number, you succeed.  The difference in the system is that odd-colored D6.  It is called the STUNT DIE.  Whenever you roll, IF you roll two "6s" on any two of the three dice, you win a number of STUNT POINTS equal to the odd-colored STUNT DIE'S result.  The Stunt Points can be used to buy Combat Maneuvers & Special Effects from a list.  Less powerful abilities like Trip, or Redirect/Move Foe cost would about 1 Stunt Point.  More damaging results would cost more Stunt Points.  IF you still want the "exploding dice" effect, I would just make a rule saying that IF 3 results of "6" occur, then roll another WHITE D6 (there should only be ONE Stunt Die) and add it's result.  A roll of all "1s" is a Catastrophic Failure.  The D&D 5e ADVANTAGE & DISADVANTAGE system can be used as well.  Once again, just add a WHITE DIE and discard the LOWEST result for ADVANTAGE and the HIGHEST result for DISADVANTAGE.    

Have you ever heard of the UNISYSTEM?  It is a 1D10 system where the GM sets a target number and you roll a 1D10, then add any Skills and Attribute bonuses to that number.  If the total equals or exceeds the Target Number, you succeed.  I have an RPG called CONSPIRACY X that uses it.  It is a fast and simple system.

I also like Twilight2000 Version 2.2's  D20 system.  You add a Skill (rated from 1 to 10) to one or more Attributes like STR or INT (also rated from 1 to 10) for a combined number known as an ASSET, that you must roll roll equal to or under on a D20 for an average task.  This is essentially a percentile system converted to D20.   For your inspection, the SKILL DIFFICULTY LEVELS for a perfectly average skill (5) and Attribute (5) [an Asset total of 10] are...

EASY Tasks:  2 X Asset (20 or less on a D20).

ROUTINE Tasks:  1.5 X Asset (15 or less on a D20).

AVERAGE Tasks:  1 X Asset (10 or less on a D20).

FAIRLY DIFFICULT Tasks: 0.75 X Asset (7 or less on a D20).

DIFFICULT Tasks: 0.5 X Asset (5 or less on a D20). 

FORMIDABLE Tasks: 0.25 X Asset (2 or less on a D20). 

IMPOSSIBLE Tasks: 0.1 X Asset (1 on a D20). 

The system has you create a TASK PROFILE that combines the Skill needed, any alternate Skill or Skills that can be substituted (sometimes at an INCREASED Task Difficulty Level), the Attribute OR Attributes to be combined (when combining Attributes, they are AVERAGED rounding down), and time needed to complete the task.  The Attributes combined allows you to change out Attributes for differing tasks.  For Example, CLIMB might require (it actually does in my Twilight2000 game) the AVERAGING of STR, CON and AGL and adding that to the Skill Level.  Rigging up "improvised climbing gear," however would require INT (for your ability to think outside the box) and EDU [Education] (for you understanding of just how a given piece of climbing gear actually functions).   Thus, Task Profiles allow you to "design tasks" that suit any situation that campaign needs to meet. 

The system also allows the use of D&D 5e's ADVANTAGE & DISADVANTAGE system.  You simply roll TWO 1D20s and take the LOWER of the results for ADVANTAGE and the HIGHER of the results for DISADVANTAGE (because this in a roll under system).   This is also how you do UNSKILLED tasks.  You add the appropriate Attribute (or Attributes average) to 0 (for no Skill) and roll 2D20, taking the HIGHER number as the result. 

We also added MYTHRAS's Combat Special Effects.  On a roll UNDER THE SKILL NUMBER ALONE [on an AVERAGE task], you can achieve an Outstanding Success.  This chance is modified by the Task's Difficulty Level so a Difficult Task Level would cut the 5 Skill above to a 2 or less chance of an Outstanding Success.  This allows you to pick a Combat Maneuver or gain some "Special Effect" determined by the GM.  This system is taken from Modiphius's 2D20 system and gives higher-skilled PCs & NPCs a better chance of getting an Outstanding Success.

This system is my MOST PLAYED system followed by my HEAVILY MODDED RQ2/RQ3/MYTHRAS game.                 

On 11/15/2021 at 5:15 PM, Zenith Comics Presents... said:

 

Guess I'll have to think up my own 🙂 

I took all of the SPECIAL EFFECTS in MYTHRAS (Disarm, Impale, Trip, Stun, Blind, etc...) that could occur in combat and added them to my mongrel Runequest campaign.  All I did was divide the Special Effects into 3 "Difficulty Levels."  The least powerful SEs (like Trip) could be won when you roll under 1/2 Skill.   The more powerful SEs (like Crush, Impale, or Slash) could be won if you rolled under 1/10th Skill (rounding up).   The most powerful SEs (Sunder Armor, Compel Retreat) occur only on DOUBLES under Skill (treating 00 as zero zero and NOT 100).   When you win an SE (and you can only win one in my system, unlike MYTHRAS),  YOU PICK IT from the list.  You may pick from a "lower list" (ie the 1/2 list IF you rolled 1/10th) IF that move suits your tactical needs.  Adding the SEs from MYTHRAS gives Classic RuneQuest a dimension of "action" that enhances combat greatly!  

Give me Hit Locations every time.  I like my crunch!  

4 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

Not quite. It's just an abstract method to handle sequencing that just so happens to give effects very similar to the passage fo time. Technically we don't know how much time passes between SR3 and SR 8, we only know that things that occurring on SR3 happen before those of later SR's, and that in RQ3 movement takes place at "x" meters per Strike Rank. 

I wonder if there would be a downside to treating Strike Ranks as time though. I mean rule wise it would probably just simplify things, at least for RQ3. About the only problem with that that I can think of is with Strike Ranks resetting every round.

This is why I established a time standard for STRIKE RANKS in my RuneQuest 2/3 game.  Each SR represents 1/2 a second of time and a 12-SR round is 6 seconds in total length.  My SR counts can "roll over" into the following rounds and I keep a "Time & Initiative Sheet" which is divided into 12 lines specifically to record the SR activity of the current round and an additional sheet to record any SR rollovers.  I change the melee weapons to a SR range of from 1 to 4 with the heaviest and longest weapons having the longest SR to engage.  It costs 1 SR to Dodge or Parry (both can be done if desired) and this is added to any attacks that come after the parry.  Movement is per SR and it costs 1/2 the attack SR to draw or ready a weapon (rounding up).  I balance the weapon's speed by giving each weapon a REACH from 1 meter to up to 5 meters.  Weapons like Long Spears have a 4 meter reach while a Dagger would have a Reach of only 1 meter.  Thus you can attack at a longer range than in the RAW game.  Nobody may react before their base DEX SR occurs.   During the DECLARATION PHASE, I have everyone explain what they want to do and I break those actions down into Strike Ranks and log them on the Time Sheet.  I then resolve the actions in SR order down to 0 from 12 (I find it easier to count down, not up).  I simply subtract SRs from 12 to determine WHEN an action occurs.

    Launching multiple attacks in a round is possible IF you have the SR to do it.   Two attacks halve an Attacker's Skill.  Three Attacks quarter the Attacker's Skill.  Four Attacks reduce the Attacker's skill to 1/10th.  Parrying is different because you are reacting to an incoming attack.  The first Parry is at normal Skill.  The second Parry is at 3/4 Skill if the attack is from the front or the same attacker of the first attempt.  It is at HALF Skill if from the Oblique on either side.  The Third Parry is HALF Skill from the front or 1/4 Skill from the Oblique of the Defender.  A Parry to the REAR reduces your chance to HALF on the very first Attack.     

I've used the system since the '90s and it worked quite well.  Now I've begun using the ACTIONS system from MYTHRAS because it is so fast to use. 

Congrats!  That first session is always the WORST!  Drive on and soon it will be second nature for you!

Since we use the Combat Special Effects from MYTHRAS in our game, we went with the following chances.  Please note that we divide our SEs into these three ranges as well.  

Basic Success: Roll under skill.  No additional effects.

Special Success:  1/2 Skill (rounding up).  PC gets to pick from some of the more basic effects like enhanced damage, trip, and redirect foe.

Outstanding Success: 1/10th Skill (rounding up).  PC gets the better effects like Slash, Impale, Crush, Disarm and Stun Foe. 

Critical Success:  Doubles UNDER Skill with 00 being "zero,zero" NOT 100.  PC gets the best effects like Riposte (return an attack free), Sunder Weapon or Armor, Bypass Armor, and Compel Retreat.

Fumble: Doubles OVER Skill with 00 being "zero,zero" NOT 100.  PC gets to pick his opponent's fumble and GM picks the PC's fumble.

For Skills over 100% (which we rarely have because we do Skills improvement like Runequest 3), on a DOUBLES result, you DO NOT Fumble IF you roll a Double that's under the total of your Skill - 100, and DO Fumble if the Double rolled is OVER the total of Skill-100.  

Keep in mind that one of the reasons this works is because we are using Special Effects that the player chooses and having 4 Levels of success makes the choice of Effects more "gated" which reduces choice and speeds up play.

. 

On 9/18/2021 at 3:33 PM, Barak Shathur said:

The pdf I have is called "RuneQuest 4 - Adventures in Glorantha" and is from 1993. The DB table goes

STR + SIZ         DB

01-05                -4

06-10                -3

11-15                 -2

16-20                -1

21-25                +0

26-30               +1

31-35               +2

36-40              +3

etc.

(STR + SIZ/5, rounding up, minus 5)

It's a damn shame it wasn't published, in many ways it's the version I like the best that I've seen so far. It really seemed to solve many of the problems with RQ, IMO.

Edit: at least in terms of combat mechanics and general game system. I haven't studied chargen or magic closely, for that I use RQ3 and BRP.

Just take this chart and add a die roll for the bonuses +/-  then 1, 1D2, 1D3, 1D4, 1D5, 1D6, 1D8, etc...  This gives a bit of variety without sacrificing the total damage possible.  We ACTUALLY used this in Runequest 2e back in the '90s and it worked quite well. 

The one change we did make [through evolution in play] was deducting the weapon's STR requirement from the PC's STR BEFORE we made the calculations for damage.  We then used increments of 5 points of "surplus STR" to determine the damage bonus.  This made lower STR characters actually consider weapons like shortswords and daggers for their characters.  

On 9/20/2021 at 10:49 AM, Baron Wulfraed said:

Where it gets complicated is the weapon type variations. The core critical statement (bolded in the book) is just (all extracts from pages 203-206)

Under "Special Damage" one finds

• Impaling weapons: An impale does twice the weapon’s normal rolled damage. That is not 2xrolled, but roll+roll (given example: 1D6+1 -> 2D6+2) -- and then add any damage bonus (damage/magic bonuses are not doubled)... and weapon is stuck in target
• Slashing: The slashing weapon’s damage should be rolled normally twice and both results added together. Essentially same as impaling, but weapon does not get stuck in target -- but there is a later clause about "incapacitating" the target
• Crushing: The weapon damage should be rolled normally and the regular damage bonus for SIZ+STR (if any) should also be rolled normally. The maximum damage  bonus from STR+SIZ, if any, should then be added to the result. Least effective -- if you don't have a damage bonus, you gain nothing from a crush. (The critical at least gets you maximum damage vs rolled)

Summarized in the sidebar on page 203.

We always gave CRUSH maximum damage and counted the damage total as DOUBLED for knockback/knockdown in Runequest 2e.

On 7/15/2021 at 11:53 AM, Atgxtg said:

 

Oh, I agree. It's just that I think that street so run both ways. If the BRP crowd can go exist with the D&Ders then the D&Ders should coexist with the BRPers. Although considering how D&D is going these days, I'm not sure it they can even coexist with each other. At least not at GenCon. 

YOU'RE NOT WRONG!  Now that D&D 5.5 has been announced for 2024, we will see how watered down newer editions can get.  Three death saves... hold my beer.   

On 6/29/2021 at 8:06 PM, Lloyd Dupont said:

You forgot to say, I would guess looking at your description, that you increase damage with user skill!

And STR damage is strangely ignored when parrying...

Interesting that parry and dodge work somewhat the same I have to give it some thought...

Yes, you increase the Damage Parried with higher skill levels.

I didn't include STR damage because I DON"T USE the RAW STR Damage Bonuses.  As I have posted in a couple of other threads in the past, I give EVERY WEAPON a required STR & DEX score, and the damage bonus comes from having STR in excess of the STR score needed to wield a weapon.  This bonus damage is just "folded into" the weapon's damage during character generation or when the player records the new weapon's "stats."  Thus, since any bonus is added into the weapon's damage, I do not list it separately.    

I use a "crunchier" method tied to skill and a weapon's damage.  

THE PARRY:

Weapon sizes matter here.  Parrying a Great Sword or Poleaxe with a Dagger is going to affect your PC's PARRY SKILL...

Weapons are sized from Small, to Medium, to Large, to Huge.  Each "difference" in sizing results in a reduction for Parrying skill.  Parrying a Medium weapon with a Dagger (a Small weapon) results in one Difficulty Shift in skill (ie reducing an Average chance to Fairly Difficult under MY system).  Trying to Parry a Large weapon would reduce it TWO levels of Difficulty (to Difficult in my system).  You can Parry with your bare hands but all damage inflicted will go to your Arm.  The IRONHAND Parry allows "martial artists" to Parry weapons with their bare hands but this is a special Skill that must be learned. 

A Successful Parry allows the blocking of damage equal to the PARRYING Weapon's DAMAGE ROLL + 1/10th the user's Skill Level (adjusted for Difficulty of course) rounding up.  ALTERNATELY, you can just use the Weapon's MAXIMUM DAMAGE + 1/10th Parry Skill for the amount of Damage that is blocked.  I use a damage roll to vary the amount of damage that is Parried from attack to attack. 

Weapons possess BOTH an Armor Rating (AP) and Hitpoints (HP) just like the older MONGOOSE PUBLISHING Runequest rules.  Any damage blocked which exceeds the Weapon's AP causes the loss of ONE HP (which comes out of the PARRIED damage, NOT the damage that gets through the Parry) and any damage which is NOT PARRIED goes through to the target.  IF the blocked/parried damage EXCEEDS AP multiple times, then multiple HP of damage can be inflicted on the Parrying weapon at the rate of 1 HP per time the weapon's AP is exceeded.  Shields have both AP and HP and are treated as weapons under my rules.    

THE DODGE:

The Dodge is an ENHANCED evasion technique that must be learned like "Professional Skills."  When a character Dodges, they reduce an enemy's DAMAGE by 1/10th Skill +1 rounding up.  A person with a 56% Dodge can reduce Damage by up to 7 points. This requires an ACTION (I use MYTHRAS' ACTIONS system) AND can be combined with a Parry.  BOTH defensive Skills will suffer a one-level Difficulty Shift when you combine the two though.    

On 5/27/2021 at 2:06 AM, KPhan2121 said:

Having finally read the Call of Cthulhu 7e rulebook, I really like some of the innovations it made to the combat rules. Small stuff like Fighting Back to some of the bigger changes like Automatic Fire. And so I did a little brainstorm of how some of these new rules would fit into the old BRP system.

The Fighting Back rules can be easily mapped out to the levels of success that BRP already uses. The main thing I'd probably change would be how ties in that system work, since CoC's levels of success work are calculated differently from BRP. So ties wouldn't lead to the automatic hits for the attacker(if they have the higher skill), it would just be an indecisive engagement and no one gets hit from it.

As for Automatic Fire, I really like how it moves away from making it so powerful in BRP. Maybe the mechanic can be similar, with some adaptations for BRP. The PC starts by sayin how many rounds they want to fire, we then figure out how many rounds the PC can fire in a volley (determined by the skill rating) , then make each volley a separate attack with an increasing penalty(Perhaps in increments of -30%). Each success will mean that half of the shots in the volley hit the target.

What do you guys think? Might be an interesting idea for a document.

         Here's a cool option for handling automatic fire.  Once you have figured out the chance to hit as a percentage, just drop the ones die in the percentile roll (leaving the Tens result) and roll a number of D10's equal to the number of rounds in the burst.  Any roll equal to or under the Tens result on the percentage chance hits. 

         To determine the number of shots a character can take with a weapon in a SINGLE ACTION, just divide the weapons REAL WORLD cyclic rate of fire by 100.  This "ROF" (Rate of Fire), replicates a SHORT BURST like the kind a skilled shooter would take and in the real world would be between one half and three quarters of a second in duration.  The typical length of a burst during an engagement of a single target.   So, an AK with a cyclic rate of fire of 600 would be able to roll 6D10's on a short burst and an MP5 (cyclic rate of 800rpm) could roll 8D10s to hit.  Longer bursts (up to DOUBLE the rate listed) could be fired as well, at a penalty of course.   The number of rounds in the burst will reduce at various range bands due to dispersion of course.  Just divide the ROF in half, rounding all fractions up for each range band past Short Range that you fire into.

        GRAZING FIRE =  Shooting at multiple targets with a burst is known as "grazing fire."  To determine how many meters of terrain you can shoot across, divide the weapon's ROF (the cyclic rate/100) in half (rounding up) and that is the number of 1-meter grids you can cover with a single die roll (1D10) to hit.   

       This should give a pretty realistic level of weapons fire.  

Why not convert over to a Mythras style Skill system if your worried about INT not mattering?  In Mythras, you add the two most important characteristics together to get a base skill level.  You could also average the two (or more) characteristics to get a base skill.  This is much easier than BRP's approach. 

On 4/27/2021 at 2:30 PM, Atgxtg said:

Hmm, that looks oddly familiar. 😉

You should know it! 

On 2/28/2021 at 6:46 PM, g33k said:

I learned RQ before there was a BRP.

We rolled %-to-hit + d20-hit-locatioon + damage in one handfull, a single roll.   Very fast.  Defender has %-parry dice ready as attacker rolls:

1.   Attacker "racks dice" in-hand:  D% / D20loc / Damage; they do this BEFORE their turn, ready to throw as soon as the GM calls for it.
2.  Attacker rolls the dice, trying to maintain order (it takes a bit of practice, but a few casts of the dice advance your rolling-skill quickly).
3.  Attacker reads the dice as a narrative sentence:
4.  "I hit with a 14!  That's a special! ..." <pause, look at Defender>
5.  Defender, rolling parry/dodge in tandem with attacker, announces parry results (crit/special/success/fail/fumble).  Attacker modifies the rest, accordingly... 
6.  "... to the 5, that's the Left Leg, doing ... 7 points of damage"

An entire exchange took 5-10 seconds.  We regularly resolved entire combat-scenes (multiple parties on both sides, multiple rounds of combat) in just a few minutes.

YMMV

[ edit:

n.b. I do recall -- now that I cast my memory back to the mists of time -- that some of the early-session rolls were reported as just-numbers, before we got familiar with the rules (or when a new player joined):
Player:  "I roll a 14% to location 5, for 7 points"
GM:  "What's your Attack-skill with that weapon?"
Player:  "75%"
GM:  "Ooooh!  That's an Impale!  Your spear slips just inside his shield, and sinks deep into his left leg; with a cry of agony, he crumples!"

This whole exchange DID take longer, maybe 30 seconds-ish... but still pretty quick!   YMMstillV  ]

That's how we do it to this day.  We even use the Location Die and Damage to narrate misses.  A large damage roll means a mighty hack or blow that simply missed or was parried with a loud ringing clang, while a low damage roll means a weak thrust or raking blow that is easily side stepped or "rasps harmlessly" off of the target's armor.