1. Initiative: Combat is comprised of rounds. The player or NPC (Non-player character) with the highest Perception attribute score goes first, and each player and NPC take their turn in order of Perception score. There will be ties, so at least until we get into a flow, I will determine Initiative using your scores. Anyone with a 4D Perception will be among the first to act each round. 2D will be among the last to act. For multiple actions (see below), every player or NPC gets their first action before any player or NPC gets their second action, and so on.
2. Actions: During a round, Players and NPC's take one or more actions during their turn. The cool thing about this game is that you can take multiple actions, but the cost is that each additional action taken beyond the first subtracts 1D from dice rolls for all actions. For example, if you have a Blaster skill of 5D and Dodge skill of 4D, you can choose to take 3 actions: Fire blaster twice and Dodge once. You would roll 3D for each Blaster shot, and 2D for your Dodge. You could even take four actions and roll 2D for each blaster shot and 1D for each Dodge. If you choose to only take one action during a round you get your full skill roll.
There are rules where you can choose to make a reaction roll after you get shot at. That rule works ok at a table but will kill this play-by-blog. So I am not using reaction skill rules - all actions must be declared up front every round.
3. The Wild Dice: I want to use the Wild Dice rule. Take one of your skill dice for any action and set it off to the side. Roll the rest and add the total. Then roll the wild dice. On a roll of 6, add 6 to your total and roll again. You keep rolling as long as you keep rolling a 6. If you roll three 6's in a row, you would add 18 plus your last roll to the total of your other dice. This rule creates the possibility of incredibly heroic actions against great odds, like Luke hitting the vent shaft on the Death Star without the targeting computer, or Lando navigating the Falcon out of an exploding Death Star at full speed. There's a catch to using the Wild dice: if you roll a 1, something bad could happen, GM discretion. If the result of your other dice is high enough, there will probably not be a consequence. Probably.
When you roll dice, use the syntax below. "OOC" means Out-of-character.
(OOC) Blaster roll: 19+4 = 25
or
(OOC) Blaster roll: 19+6+2 = 27
the numbers after the first plus symbol represent your Wild Dice rolls. Make sense?
4. Difficulty Numbers and Opposed Rolls: The GM determines the Difficulty number that you roll against when taking an action. At the onset, I will state what the difficulty level is but not the specific number. So I might say that shooting the raiders requires a moderate difficulty skill check. That makes the number you need to meet or exceed with your dice roll between 11-15. As we go on, I will endeavor to provide narrative context for difficulty without actually saying the difficulty level.
Alternatively, players or NPCs can declare an action to be used as an opposed roll. The dice roll replaces the difficulty number. That means that if you are behind full cover in a dark room at long range, then it would probably be better for you to keep the difficulty number rather than trying to Dodge.
In this first combat scenario, you may want to Dodge if you have a score higher than about 3D, which correlates to a Moderate Difficulty level. You can always try your luck and declare your Dodge and see what happens with the Wild Dice. When you declare one of your actions to Dodge, the Dodge skill roll is applied against any shots fired your way for that round, even if the shooter has a higher initiative than you do. If you declare a Dodge action, you only need to roll Dodge once for the round.
Finally, players can choose to make a "Full Reaction" - meaning the reaction skill is the only action they take that round. For example, they can choose to do nothing but Dodge for the round. When doing a full reaction, the Opposed roll is added to the difficulty number for the round. If you will only Dodge, declare a full reaction in your post. I should be able to determine without the declaration, but this will help both of us remember.
5. Movement: Movement is an action. Unless the terrain is difficult or you are running and also taking other actions like firing a blaster or dodging, you don't need to roll for success. Moving and firing or taking other actions still counts against the total number of actions you take during the round, so subtract dice accordingly.
6. Taking Wounds: Your Strength attribute represents your ability to shrug off damage or take a wound. I will ask everyone for a Strength roll at the outset of combat which will apply to the duration of combat. When you are wounded you will incur a penalty to subsequent dice rolls. More grievous wounds will cause you to lose your actions or even become unconscious, incapacitated, or killed. First Aid and Medical skills heal wounds but cannot be easily performed during combat.
That should be enough to get us started. If you have questions please reply to any of these comments.
Combat Mechanics.
ReplyDelete1. Initiative: Combat is comprised of rounds. The player or NPC (Non-player character) with the highest Perception attribute score goes first, and each player and NPC take their turn in order of Perception score. There will be ties, so at least until we get into a flow, I will determine Initiative using your scores. Anyone with a 4D Perception will be among the first to act each round. 2D will be among the last to act. For multiple actions (see below), every player or NPC gets their first action before any player or NPC gets their second action, and so on.
2. Actions: During a round, Players and NPC's take one or more actions during their turn. The cool thing about this game is that you can take multiple actions, but the cost is that each additional action taken beyond the first subtracts 1D from dice rolls for all actions. For example, if you have a Blaster skill of 5D and Dodge skill of 4D, you can choose to take 3 actions: Fire blaster twice and Dodge once. You would roll 3D for each Blaster shot, and 2D for your Dodge. You could even take four actions and roll 2D for each blaster shot and 1D for each Dodge. If you choose to only take one action during a round you get your full skill roll.
There are rules where you can choose to make a reaction roll after you get shot at. That rule works ok at a table but will kill this play-by-blog. So I am not using reaction skill rules - all actions must be declared up front every round.
3. The Wild Dice: I want to use the Wild Dice rule. Take one of your skill dice for any action and set it off to the side. Roll the rest and add the total. Then roll the wild dice. On a roll of 6, add 6 to your total and roll again. You keep rolling as long as you keep rolling a 6. If you roll three 6's in a row, you would add 18 plus your last roll to the total of your other dice. This rule creates the possibility of incredibly heroic actions against great odds, like Luke hitting the vent shaft on the Death Star without the targeting computer, or Lando navigating the Falcon out of an exploding Death Star at full speed. There's a catch to using the Wild dice: if you roll a 1, something bad could happen, GM discretion. If the result of your other dice is high enough, there will probably not be a consequence. Probably.
ReplyDeleteWhen you roll dice, use the syntax below. "OOC" means Out-of-character.
(OOC) Blaster roll: 19+4 = 25
or
(OOC) Blaster roll: 19+6+2 = 27
the numbers after the first plus symbol represent your Wild Dice rolls. Make sense?
4. Difficulty Numbers and Opposed Rolls: The GM determines the Difficulty number that you roll against when taking an action. At the onset, I will state what the difficulty level is but not the specific number. So I might say that shooting the raiders requires a moderate difficulty skill check. That makes the number you need to meet or exceed with your dice roll between 11-15. As we go on, I will endeavor to provide narrative context for difficulty without actually saying the difficulty level.
Alternatively, players or NPCs can declare an action to be used as an opposed roll. The dice roll replaces the difficulty number. That means that if you are behind full cover in a dark room at long range, then it would probably be better for you to keep the difficulty number rather than trying to Dodge.
In this first combat scenario, you may want to Dodge if you have a score higher than about 3D, which correlates to a Moderate Difficulty level. You can always try your luck and declare your Dodge and see what happens with the Wild Dice. When you declare one of your actions to Dodge, the Dodge skill roll is applied against any shots fired your way for that round, even if the shooter has a higher initiative than you do. If you declare a Dodge action, you only need to roll Dodge once for the round.
Finally, players can choose to make a "Full Reaction" - meaning the reaction skill is the only action they take that round. For example, they can choose to do nothing but Dodge for the round. When doing a full reaction, the Opposed roll is added to the difficulty number for the round. If you will only Dodge, declare a full reaction in your post. I should be able to determine without the declaration, but this will help both of us remember.
ReplyDelete5. Movement: Movement is an action. Unless the terrain is difficult or you are running and also taking other actions like firing a blaster or dodging, you don't need to roll for success. Moving and firing or taking other actions still counts against the total number of actions you take during the round, so subtract dice accordingly.
6. Taking Wounds: Your Strength attribute represents your ability to shrug off damage or take a wound. I will ask everyone for a Strength roll at the outset of combat which will apply to the duration of combat. When you are wounded you will incur a penalty to subsequent dice rolls. More grievous wounds will cause you to lose your actions or even become unconscious, incapacitated, or killed. First Aid and Medical skills heal wounds but cannot be easily performed during combat.
That should be enough to get us started. If you have questions please reply to any of these comments.