[combat] any easy way to do this?

[islan]

I was playing Age of Chivalry the other night and was noting how important it is to avoid archery fire just by moving fast in a perpendicular direction from them. I've noticed this in movies too, where rather than "dodging" enemy fires, characters just try to move fast in order to make themselves harder to hit. As far as game systems, I have only seen this done in Conspiracy X and Celtic Legends.

I was wondering if there is any clean-cut way of representing both such movement as well as cover to become harder to hit by ranged attacks in BRP. Or would you say the Difficult Dodge rolls represent just that?

[RMS]

I'd just make the ranged attack be a Difficult attack roll for evasive maneuvering. It may not be perfect, but it's simple and close enough. The runner couldn't take any active offense or defense in such a case.

[islan]

Hmm. Yep, that sounds like a perfect solution. I would also say that the target doesn't get such a bonus if they are coming straight at the attacker, and would have to rely more on shields.

[RMS]

Right. I'd probably rule that it takes twice as long to close the gap compared to running directly at the archer.

If you're using hit locations, then shields can just be treated as passive and offer half protection against 1-3 adjacent hit locations (depending on size of the shield): shield arm, plus generally chest, abs, and/or head. If you aren't using hit locations, I'd just ignore the shield. It's benefit falls underneath the level of granularity for the simpler combat system IMO. Or you could just offer something like a Luck roll at POW x 1%/2%/3% (depending on shield size again) to get in the way on a hit.

[islan]

It does make me a little worried that people could take too much advantage of this rule. Maybe the ranged attack would only be Difficult if the character succeeds at a Luck roll? I wonder if this maneuver is more helpful when against archery rather than shooting. And maybe now I'm starting to overthink it

[Shaira]

p206 says you suffer a -50% attack penalty on missile attacks if the target is "moving fast". I'd take this to mean you move 30m in a CR (p190) and can take no other action than self-defense (parry or dodge), which would be a Dodge. As indicated on p191, this Dodge attempt would be Difficult, and could only be made against the first missile attack in the CR. This would represent running as fast as you can and trying to avoid being aimed at by archers.

If you wanted to, you could use the Fight Defensively rule on p191 to get a second Dodge attempt. This would take up an action, so you could only move up to 5m, and would probably also be a Difficult skill roll as you're dodging a missile attack. I'd say this Fight Defensively option would represent actually trying to evade, ducking and moving from side to side. You'd get two Dodges, but I'm not sure in this case whether the -50% attack penalty for "moving fast" would apply; I'd probably say it wouldn't.

So, two options: run like hell, -50% on attacker's skill, plus a single Difficult Dodge roll; or, evade like hell, attacker's skill unchanged, but you get two Difficult Dodge rolls. Makes the choice a bit more tactical.

Cheers,

Sarah

[RMS]

It does make me a little worried that people could take too much advantage of this rule. Maybe the ranged attack would only be Difficult if the character succeeds at a Luck roll? I wonder if this maneuver is more helpful when against archery rather than shooting. And maybe now I'm starting to overthink it

If you're looking for "realism" then I think the difficult modifier makes perfect sense for any kind of ranged attack. FYI, hitting a moving target with a gun is much more difficult than hitting a standing target which is why hunters and snipers trying to catch their prey while it's stationary rather than moving, or why you instead try to put lots of shot in the air (via a shotgun or via an automatic weapon). I don't think the rule would cause problems so long as you allow the ranged weapon user one final shot at full value (point blank) before the two close.

Edited October 25, 2008 by RMS
Something got cut here while posting it appears.

[RMS]

p206 says you suffer a -50% attack penalty on missile attacks if the target is "moving fast". I'd take this to mean you move 30m in a CR (p190) and can take no other action than self-defense (parry or dodge), which would be a Dodge. As indicated on p191, this Dodge attempt would be Difficult, and could only be made against the first missile attack in the CR. This would represent running as fast as you can and trying to avoid being aimed at by archers.

What's this? Read the actual rules and apply them as written rather than just spouting of a flying-by-seat-of-pants ruling like my suggestions...

Seriously, I should have a disclaimer about that I suppose.

[Shaira]

Seriously, I should have a disclaimer about that I suppose.

I think a "Seat-of-pants" smilie is in order, for sure! :party: How bout it Trif?

Sarah

[islan]

Hmm, I think the Difficulty-level assigning would be more, how you say, easy to do, rather than assigning modifiers. Besides, aren't all modifiers typically suppose to be in the + or - 20% range, just to make things easier?

[Nightshade]

To some degree the rules are overly simple here; speed of movement is more of an issue up close than at a distance, because the angle of tracking is harder.

(What I mean here is that, barring use of a scope (which fast movement seriously screws), if someone is a hundred yards away, the distance they move in a given period is smaller in relative distance you need to track your aim point than if they're close. Naturally, they're harder to hit in the first place, but regular movement matters less (deliberate evasive movement--broken field running--is a different story, but that's less an issue of speed and in fact, penalizes the distance you can cover).

[Trifletraxor]

I think a "Seat-of-pants" smilie is in order, for sure! :party: How bout it Trif?

Sarah

You can all add your personal smileys now, so if you want a "Seat-of-pants" smiley, find one and add it to the defaults! :cool:

:beetle: (<- see, I have a signature smiley!!!)