Second by Second Combat

by S003LLT@nova.wright.edu (Laura T.)

Date: Sun, 18 Jun 1995 01:21:45 -0400 From: S003LLT@nova.wright.edu To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: second by second combat

O.K. -- here goes. I will probably leave some things out of this description, as it is one thing to PLAY with it, and another to remember everything and write it down (for ex. there are some skills my PC does not have that are dealt with in specific ways, and I will probably leave all that out. Feel free to ask specific questions for clarification of my answers, though.)

This is a very SIMPLE system, really, with none of the CTAPs, NAPs, FAPs BAPs etc., of other suggested systems.

We started with the 10 second round and looked at the Action Time Requirements, RMC I. They said, for example, to draw a weapon is a 20% activity. We took this to mean it takes 2 seconds (20% of 10 seconds being 2.) For the most part, we used these times for skills. Casting a spell takes 7 seconds, therefore, and prepping it would take 9. Some things, like adrenals, can be done 2 ways. You can prep for an adrenal for 2 seconds, OR you can do some other, longer action -- like parrying or such -- at 80% and then make your role for the adrenal. Generally, we let people parry and do something else, but otherwise skills tend to be used sequentially, one after the other.

SOME skills have very different times required. Generally, I mean weapons skills.

to attack or parry with a short blade (dagger, knife, 
etc. takes 5 seconds.
to do so with a thrusting 1H weapon takes 6 sec.
"  "  "  "  " a slashing\crushing 1H weapon takes 7 sec. 
"  "  "  "  " a MA attack takes 5 seconds
draw 1H weapon\arrow\othr thing of similar size:  2 sec
draw 2H weapon : 4 sec
sheath wpn: 3 sec
string bow: 24 sec
prepare heavy X-bow: 50 sec*
prepare lt X-bow: 17 sec
attack w\ bow or sling: 3 sec
attack w\ trigger weapon (X-bow, musket): 1.5 sec
attack with trown weapon: 2 sec.
a -50 PER roll: 2 sec
a -0 PER roll : 10 sec
an instantaneous spell still takes 1 second
You can parry 80% while prepping an adrenal or 30% while casting or 
preparing a spell

These timnes have playtested well for us, but that might vary with the group. There are no recovery times for spells. Also, you probably noticed that to shoot someone, you (usually) have to draw the arrow and\or prepare the weapon, then shoot.

* There are prep times for other bows too. This is one of those things I mentioned above -- my character doesn't use such, so I didn't have the times handy. I will post them later (sorry!)

These times are modified by the character's quickness bonus. If he has a bonus of 20, then everything takes 80% of the time. If he has an extraordinary bonus like 50, then everything takes half the time. When the character is sped, then the time is halved again. Skills like speed or strenghth DO NOT last 10 seconds. They last for hte duration of hte action -- the attack you are making, or the character's attempt to lift a trap door, etc. When he\she stops straining to breath :) they have to prep again. Just imagine trying to gather your strenghth in real life and that's pretty much how we've been treating it.

All times round to the nearest half second. We saw no need to sub-divide the round more than that.

All Attacks, MELEE and missile, are assummed to consist fundamentally of ONE effective stroke. This is different from RM, but works for us. The swing\stab may be considered to include a second or two of maneuvering for position, but only ONE effective attack.

PARRYING:

This will doubtless have raised several questions in your minds. When, during the 6 seconds of the bad-guys attack do you have to start parying? Neither "from the start" nor "anytime before he hits" seemed satisfactory. What we settled on was: half way through. I.E.: each weapon has a Minimum Parry Time that is HALF its attack time. You must parry the guy's 6 second swing for at least 3 seconds. But what about the classic image of the guy turning and parrying with all his might just at the last moment? You can still do that. If you start to parry the above-mentioned attack in second 5.5, you can, but it will probably force you off balance or down to one knee, etc. This, in game, means you have to continue "must parrying" for the full parry time of your weapon, even after the attack is over. I.E. in the above example, you would parry until 8.5, even though his attack ended at 6.

All of this leads to players guessing (as they would in real life) "do I have enough time to get in an attack and still parry?" "when is he going to hit me?" This lends tension, and the fight can end quickly when someone miss-estimates, just as you might expect. Since you go blow-by-blow and maneuver-by-maneuver, you can create a really visual battle. We are using this system in a swashbucking _ 3 Musketteers_ type game, and the action really flows. The combat round is sped up, and you can say things like "the character drops to one knee, drawing his rapier and extending it forward into his opponents gut just instants before the man brought his club to bear", etc

Again, for spells and such with durations, keep track of how many 10's of seconds (pseudo-rounds) go by from the second it started to take effect.

Lastly: Stunned maneuver: You make a roll at the first half-second after being stunned. Subtract all apropriate minuses, etc (including "rounds" of stun) A person stunned for 4 rounds according to the crit roll would be stunned for 40 seconds, and would still be at -40 to his stunned maneuver roll. For every 1% that hte roll is over 100, the duration of stun is shortened by 1%. You get to make another roll every 10 seconds. So say you were stunned 30 seconds and rolled a really good stunned maneuver that totalled 150. The stun would be reduced by 50%, and you would only be stunned for 15 seconds. At second 10 you would roll again, perhaps further reducing the stun by 20%, or so. This drops it to 4 seconds, and you will be un-stunned before making another roll.

An ALTERNATIVE: any successful stuned maneuver roll will get rid of a last partial round of stun -- the tail 2 or 3 seconds. Being stunned in this system is REALLY bad. In terma of combat time, it lasts forever and you can really take a beating while you're waiting to get free. Spell like unstun whould probably be made available to everyone or no one, unless you have patient players who don't mind everyone else getting in 3 or 4 attacks while they are waiting to be unstunned.

Again, this system works very well for us. It speeds up combat once you get the hang of it, and provides a lot of color to a fight. It may or may not be appropriate for a different game, but I hope you've found it interesting. I haven't covered MANY things, so if one of those things comes to mind, just ask and my GM or I will answer your question.

Laura T.

Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 17:22:40 -0400 From: S003LLT@nova.wright.edu To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: second by second combat
On Wed, 21 Jun 1995, Matt Barkdull wrote:

> >> > attack w\ bow or sling: 3 sec
> >> > attack w\ trigger weapon (X-bow, musket): 1.5 sec
> >> > attack with trown weapon: 2 sec.
> >> > a -50 PER roll: 2 sec
> >> > a -0 PER roll : 10 sec
> >> > an instantaneous spell still takes 1 second
> >> > You can parry 80% while prepping an adrenal or 30% while casting or
> >> > preparing a spell
> 
> 
> This is a little off the real subject, but I didn't notice these times the
> first time around.
> 
> The one to point out here is the "instantaneous spell still takes 1 second"

Yes, this could get a little tricky,and we didn't want already powerful spellslike Combat Enhancement to take NO TIME at all. I suppose you could say that when I said spells didn'thave recovery times, I lied. Think of instantaneous spells as happening right away,but taking the rest of the second to recover from. This is really the only way to handle them in combat (that we have found),and even so, the combat semi-spell user classes are even deadlier than before ("An even more deadly Noble Warrior? I didn't know it was possible! :-) Something for GM's to bear in mind!)

> Boy, this kinda negates the use of a landing spell when you are 30 ft in
> the air.  The drop rate is 32 ft per second per second.  So in in a 30 ft
> drop the spell would go off after you hit the ground.
> 
> I am curious, though, "attack with thrown weapon: 2 sec.", is this also
> reload time?  Our group made this 1.5 sec.

No, reload time is "preparation time" The 2 seconds is the time it takes to draw your arm back and throw, or sight along your arrow at the target and loose the string, or aim and pull the trigger (depending on weapon type). So you have to re-load the bow, x-bow, pistol, sling, etc as well. You wouldn't have to worry about re-load time with a thrown knife though. You'd just draw another one (2 sec w/o QU or Adrenals,etc) and go.

> Also brings up the question of self-reloading crossbows.  Would this also
> be 1.5 seconds, or is there a magical/mechanical means in operation here
> and it actually takes longer/shorter.  Meaning that even though it is self
> reloading, it doesn't mean the string gets cocked back in 1.5 seconds.

Reloading a cross-bow usually takes tens of seconds the way we use it. I'd say one that re-loaded automatically could cut that down significantly, as well as eliminating the time needed to draw another arrow (assuming they are in a sort of "clip" attached to the x-bow). This could be a powerful weapon, though you could balance things out by making it expensive, fragile,and bulkier than normal! :)

> That brings up yet another question.  When speed loading a bow or crossbow,
> shouldn't this take away from your DB?  You are standing in one spot and
> concentrating on loading.  Try it sometime.  Get a crossbow in particular.
> Usually you have to use your feet and hands to pull back or cock it.  Now,
> while doing so, have someone throw pillows at you.  Not very easy to do.

I have a cross-bow, and agree whole heartedly. Generally, the only things you can parry while doing are:

1. simple things like drawing a knife from your belt, talking, chewing 
gum, etc.
2. preping for adrenal moves, when you can parry at 80%
3. spells-- you can parry at 30% while casting or prepping a spell.

In many cases, parrying while doing another action will increase the time it takes to to the other action. A good rule of thumb might be to double the time,but this is up to the GM and how kind he/she is. Hope this clarified some of my dis-organized "presentation!"

Laura T.


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