House Rules for Missile Fire into Melee

by Matt Berger

Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 11:01:01 -0400 From: Matt Berger To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Missile Fire into Melee (lengthy)

Hi everyone,

I've always been a great fan of Firing Into Melee from outside, but never seem to get the hang of it in RMSS. Here is my best attempt at coming up with some rules for this situation.

They are somewhat lengthy and not really complete - a list of options really.

Any suggestions gladly received


Rules for Missile or Spell fire into Melee

Introduction

Fire into melee causes a problem for not only can you miss your intended target, but you may well hit a secondary target, whether it be friend or foe. Additionally, the rapid jostling for position, changing of facing, and general commotion makes fire into melee, whether it be spell or weapon, a difficult prospect to manage. How are we to circumvent this?

What do we wish to achieve by this?

I would like a Rule that has the following effects:

*	Fire into melee is dangerous for all in the melee

*	Fire in melee should not be precluded as a combat option, 
	but not viewed as a preferred option none the less.  
	Ideally, more than a last resort (although Elemental Area Spells 
        such as	Fireball will always be Danger-Close-Fire), but less than 
        a normal attack-parry routine.

*	The Rule should take into account:
	.	 the size of creatures in combat,
	.	the skill of the marksman,
	.	the number of creatures in combat,
	.	the speed of the initially targeted creature in the 
		first case,
	.	and the speed of the eventual targeted creature.

*	Results of Bolt Spells and Missile weapons will be all or nothing 
        for the eventual targeted creature; i.e., only one creature at most
        can be effected by a Spell or Weapon, no "part hits".  
	This will not be the case for Elemental Area Spells of course.

*	The Rule calls for a minimum of technocracy - no multiple rolling 
        or extra tables if at all possible (although this may be open to 
        some debate)

Options

i) Assign each creature in melee with the intended target a Relative Target Size and use this directly to determine which creature has been hit. This method is the method currently in use in TSRs AD&D system. This means that, for instance, you assign gargantuan creature 6 points, huge creatures 4 points, large creatures 2 points, medium creatures 1 point, small creatures 1/2 a point and tiny creatures 1/3 of a point, determine the number of creatures in melee, add up the points for size and determine a relative probablity of being targeted. The eventual target is determined, the marksman rolls to hit, adds his OB, subtracts the targets DB, and looks up the Weapon or Spell table as appropriate for the AT of the creature concerned.

The disadvantage of this system is that a master marksman will still hit the wrong target as often as a novice, albeit with more dramatic results. This means, of course, that a first level charcater has nothing to lose by firing into melee (since he is unlikely to roll a critical whether it be a friend or foe), but at 5th or higher level, when criticals fly aplenty, a character will be loathe to fire into melee since if he is unlucky enough to strike an ally, he will probably kill him (or at least disable him enough so that his enemies can kill him).

This point could be seen as an advantage with an eye towards discouragement, but I would like to see Fire in Melee as a more important part of the game.

Example:

Mogaroth (a Fighter) is going to throw his Stiletto at a Tiger engaged in Melee with two of his Human spell caster buddies. The Tiger is Large, worth 2 points, and each of the Spell Users is Medium, worth 1 point. So the total relative size is 2+1+1=4 points, the Tiger will be targeted 50% of the time, and each of the spell users 25% of the time. This doesn't matter if Mogs OB with the Stiletto is -25% or +150%, he still "misaims" 50% of the time. In this (150%) case, of course, he would probably opt not to risk skewering his pals.

ii) For each melee situation, determine an FFC or "Friendly Fire Cutoff". Any (modified) attack roll below this and Friendly Fire has occurred, and a target other than that which was intended has been hit, or rather, has a chance of being hit.

Under this system, for each situation encountered, the GM will work out the FFC, based on speed, size, etc., announce it to the marksman, and then the marksman can cancel his action or "Damn the Torpedoes" and proceed none-the-less. If the (modified) roll, after taking into account OB and DB, is less than the FFC, the GM will announce that "Friendly Fire has Occured", determine which combatant has actully been hit, then, on the same sub-FFC roll, consult the Weapon/Spell Table for the appropriate DB. Note of course that Friendly Fire could still hit some other opponent, not only an ally.

This scheme could be open to many variations.

a)	The check against the FFC is made after modifying for OB but 
        before modfying for DB,
b)	The check against the FFC is made before any modification 
        (i.e., on the roll of the dice),
c)	The defenders may or may not get to modify the roll by their 
        DB instead of the original target's DB,
d)	Determination of secondary target after the sub-FFC roll has been 
        made could be again based on size and speed.

An advantage of this system is that high level marksmen are less likely to accidentally kill their own party members

A disadvantage of this system is that, unless variation (a) is used, the FFC determines the minimum damage done to the opponent, i.e., no glancing blows, close nicks etc (or outright misses for that matter).

Example:

Again, we have Mog, the Tiger and the Spell Users. This time the GM says "Friendly Fire Cutoff is 115". Mog can say Yea or Nae at this point. If he says Yea, he rolls the dice. If the roll is below the FCC, then the Tiger is missed (regardless of how much damage the table says should be done) and one of the other two combatants (the Spell Casters) recieves a potential blow. The same roll is used to determine damage on the Spell Caster in question, but using the Spell Caster's AT (and, under Option (a), DB).

iii) The intended target in the melee could use his fellow combatants as cover, gaining a bonus to DB. If a complete miss occurs, then the actual target is determined using a relative size formula based on how much cover was applied by each combatant; the roll is adjusted by the said amount of cover, and the table is reconsulted (on the new targets' AT) and damage is applied.

A variation on this method would be to allow the eventual target to modify the roll by his DB.

This method takes into account the size of all the combatants, and the skill of the marksman. It is in many ways just a rephrasing or refinement of Option (ii), although a complete miss or slight nick can still occur.

Example

Again we return to Mogaroth and his feline encounter. Say his OB (accounting for range etc.) with the Stiletto is 60. The Tiger is AT 5 with DB 30, the Spell Casters' AT1, DB 5. With the two Spell Casters hanging on for dear life, prodding away with their staves at the mammoth cat, the GM decides that each of the Humans adds 20% cover. So the Tigers DB is now 30+(20x2)=70 (Oh oh). Mog fires away regardless ("I'll save you") and consults the table. He needs a result of 75 to hit, after taking into account OB and (modified) DB. If Mog misses by 1-40, the total amount of cover, he will possibly hit a Spell Caster.

Looking at the outcomes we see:

Roll		Result		Action				
01		01 UM		roll again on the Fumble table
02-44		-08-34		Miss
45-84		35-74		Friendly Fire
85+		75+		Damage to Tiger

If the roll is 45 to 84 (result 35 to 74), the GM determines which Spell Caster "blocked the shot" (ratio of Cover provided to Total Cover, in this case 20:40 for each Spell Caster). He then adds the Cover (20 in either case here) from the Result ((35,...,74) + 20) and consults the Stiletto(Dagger) Table again with this number against AT 1. If the result here is 90 (since AT 1 on Dagger) or more then damage is applied to the Spell Caster. Noting that 74+20 is 94, and that damage begins at 90 for AT 1, Mog has very little chance of hitting his comrades even if he misses the Tiger.

Roll		Result		Action			After FF  FF Result		
01		01 UM		Fumble
02-44		-08-34		Miss altogther
45-79		44-69		Friendly Fire		64-89	  Missed All
80-84		70-74		Friendly Fire		90-94	  Hit Mages
85+		75+		Damage to Tiger

Example

Consider Mog and the Tiger, but this time his comrades are three fighters in Plate Armour (AT 20, DB 5). The GM decides that each of these contribute 20% extra to the Tiger's Cover. The Tigers DB is now 30+(3x20) = 90, and Mog is going to throw his War Hammer with OB of 40 (accounting for Range and so forth). The table now looks something like this:

Roll		Result		Action			After FF  FF Result		
01-04		01-04 UM	Fumble
05-54		-45-04		Miss altogether
55-114		05-64		Friendly Fire		25-84	  Hit Fighter
115+		65+		Damage to Tiger

Note here that there is no "buffer zone": if Mog misses the Tiger by 1-60, a Fighter is hit (1 in 3 chance for which one.). This is because of the War Hammer against the Plate Armour.

Points to note:

Firing into melee results in an improved DB for the Target Creature. This is the sum of the Indivdual Covers for each of the other combatants in the melee.

Note that a lot of cover means that a miss could give a nasty crit to a target other than that which was originally intended.


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