baddie skills/levels and encounter balance

[jasongee0656]

Folks,
I am coming from 2nd Edition AD&D (TSR – baby!!!), so I am stuck in the thinking of character levels and pairing player characters to baddie levels. I usually will make my baddies 1-2 levels higher then my player characters.

However, in Traveller – I am having a hard time generating baddies for my encounter. I am making them too hard, or super too weak.

What is the rule of thumb on creating baddies for my campaigns or encounters?


thanks.

 

[rust]

Sorry, no good rule of thumb I am aware of.

There are just too many variations of character skills,
character armour and character weaponry plus cha-
racters' tactics to rely on any kind of formula. My best
advice would be to run a number of test fights with
different numbers of opponents, skill levels, equipment
and so on to develop a feel for Traveller combat, which
overall tends to be a lot more lethal than AD&D combat.

 

[jasongee0656]

Sorry, no good rule of thumb I am aware of.

There are just too many variations of character skills,
character armour and character weaponry plus cha-
racters' tactics to rely on any kind of formula. My best
advice would be to run a number of test fights with
different numbers of opponents, skill levels, equipment
and so on to develop a feel for Traveller combat, which
overall tends to be a lot more lethal than AD&D combat.

Understand, and thanks for the help; however, would I generally want to keep attribute stats around 7-9?

 

[rust]

Understand, and thanks for the help; however, would I generally want to keep attribute stats around 7-9?

Well, the higher a character's DEX, the more dangerous he
is in a firefight, and the higher the average of his physical
stats, the more damage he can take - but beyond that the
stats are much less important than a character's armour,
the kind of weapons used in the combat and the tactics of
both sides (cover, for example, is very important in a Tra-
veller combat). All in all, in a science fiction combat the
technology used tends to be more important than the stats
of the characters.

That said, I tend to keep attribute stats in the average ran-
ge and to use exceptionally low or high stats only rarely,
but for me this is more a matter of the plausibility of my
settings, and has little to do with combat.

 

[locarno24]

For the sake of simplicity, describe the player's nemesis' areas of competence (I hesitate to say 'villain' because the players are so rarely the good guys*) in terms of 'average', 'good', and 'holy freaking krunk'. His/Her stats are 7, 9, and 12 respectively.

No-one should have more than one stat at 12.

General rule:

inept grunts - straight 7's with skills at level 0 in whatever areas they're called on to act in. Keeps the maths easy... give them level 1 if you want them slightly less inept.

competent minions - as above, but the two key stats (whatever they are) are 9's. One skill at level 2 and other relevant skills at level 1. This gives you 'professional' level. Don't ask the players to take them on in a straight fight unless they have (a) better equipment, (b) surprise or (c) a numerical advantage or someone will probably get killed. Remember, two accurate gauss slugs will generally put someone in ICU.

scary/scary dude - 'key' stat at 12 (or more), other relevant ones at 9. One skill at 3, two at 2 and three at 1. Shedloads of money (MCr+) spent on relevant implants and gear. Use only once or twice in a campaign.

Note; the above is not restricted to combatants. An EDU-12, INT-9, SOC-9, Advocate/3, Persuade/2, Admin/2 lawyer with skill augmentation, MCr5 in hard cash and a secure laptop with a Database of Interesting Facts (TM) is at least as deadly to the players as a thug in battledress.


To translate; if you want a fairly 'easy' gunfight where the players might feel threatened but won't be killed, take an equivalent number of inept 777777 goons with Gun Combat/0 and sidearms (at whatever TL the players are equipped to). Either no armour or something 'discreet' - cloth, ballistic vest, etc. This is a decent model for anything from crewman to slum gangers.

'Proper Soldiers' should be something the players will be running from, sneaking past, bribing, or anything but shooting at. 999777, Gun Combat/2, Recon/1, Melee(Small Blade)/1, Gauss carbine/rifle with laser sight, dagger, comm, combat armour.

'supersoldiers' are the sort of thing that happens if the imperial marine corps gets called down on your head. At this point, your chances of survival are directly linked to them wanting you alive and/or the risk of collateral damage. 99C977, Heavy Weapons (Autocannon)/3, Recon/2, Stealth/2, A VFR Gauss Rifle with a Biomass Rangefinder and Specialised Intelligent Weapon upgrade, Ballistic Tracking Lenses, Advanced Subdermal Armour and Battle Dress with Vislight Chameleon, Assorted Combat Drugs will probably kill everyone in a normal party if they are stupid enough to try and take him on. If this was a film, he'd be the bad guy's chief henchman and probably played by someone like Dolph Lundgren. You can't fight, you can't hide, but you might, just might, be able to run.


* "You are fooling yourself, Captain. Nothing here is what it seems. You are not the plucky hero, the Alliance is not an evil empire, and this is not the grand arena."

 

[jasongee0656]

For the sake of simplicity, describe the player's nemesis' areas of competence (I hesitate to say 'villain' because the players are so rarely the good guys*) in terms of 'average', 'good', and 'holy freaking krunk'. His/Her stats are 7, 9, and 12 respectively.

No-one should have more than one stat at 12.

General rule:

inept grunts - straight 7's with skills at level 0 in whatever areas they're called on to act in. Keeps the maths easy... give them level 1 if you want them slightly less inept.

competent minions - as above, but the two key stats (whatever they are) are 9's. One skill at level 2 and other relevant skills at level 1. This gives you 'professional' level. Don't ask the players to take them on in a straight fight unless they have (a) better equipment, (b) surprise or (c) a numerical advantage or someone will probably get killed. Remember, two accurate gauss slugs will generally put someone in ICU.

scary/scary dude - 'key' stat at 12 (or more), other relevant ones at 9. One skill at 3, two at 2 and three at 1. Shedloads of money (MCr+) spent on relevant implants and gear. Use only once or twice in a campaign.

Note; the above is not restricted to combatants. An EDU-12, INT-9, SOC-9, Advocate/3, Persuade/2, Admin/2 lawyer with skill augmentation, MCr5 in hard cash and a secure laptop with a Database of Interesting Facts (TM) is at least as deadly to the players as a thug in battledress.


To translate; if you want a fairly 'easy' gunfight where the players might feel threatened but won't be killed, take an equivalent number of inept 777777 goons with Gun Combat/0 and sidearms (at whatever TL the players are equipped to). Either no armour or something 'discreet' - cloth, ballistic vest, etc. This is a decent model for anything from crewman to slum gangers.

'Proper Soldiers' should be something the players will be running from, sneaking past, bribing, or anything but shooting at. 999777, Gun Combat/2, Recon/1, Melee(Small Blade)/1, Gauss carbine/rifle with laser sight, dagger, comm, combat armour.

'supersoldiers' are the sort of thing that happens if the imperial marine corps gets called down on your head. At this point, your chances of survival are directly linked to them wanting you alive and/or the risk of collateral damage. 99C977, Heavy Weapons (Autocannon)/3, Recon/2, Stealth/2, A VFR Gauss Rifle with a Biomass Rangefinder and Specialised Intelligent Weapon upgrade, Ballistic Tracking Lenses, Advanced Subdermal Armour and Battle Dress with Vislight Chameleon, Assorted Combat Drugs will probably kill everyone in a normal party if they are stupid enough to try and take him on. If this was a film, he'd be the bad guy's chief henchman and probably played by someone like Dolph Lundgren. You can't fight, you can't hide, but you might, just might, be able to run.


* "You are fooling yourself, Captain. Nothing here is what it seems. You are not the plucky hero, the Alliance is not an evil empire, and this is not the grand arena."

Thanks for the tips and info...this really helps, and I will review the naming codes for characters, which I was having a hard time grasping.

 

[SSWarlock]

One other trick is to change the NPC characteristics on the fly, using the pre-generated info only as a guideline. If the PCs are having too easy/rough a time of it and you want the session to go rougher/easier to maintain a high level of fun, simply add 1-2 more NPCs or change the weapons/armor they using. That will become much easier to do as a GM becomes more familiar with the abilities of Traveller equipment. Or change the consequences of what the PCs do.

Party Leader: "Will you please stop setting off security alarms?!?"
Hacker: "But I didn't miss the skill roll by that much!"
GM: "True but you've worked your way deeper into the secured network. The alarms there get much more attention."

 

[rust]

A VFR Gauss Rifle with a Biomass Rangefinder and Specialised Intelligent Weapon upgrade, Ballistic Tracking Lenses, Advanced Subdermal Armour and Battle Dress with Vislight Chameleon, Assorted Combat Drugs ...

This is what I meant. If your normal and normally outfitted
character has to face an opponent with this equipment and
the skills required to use it, it does not make a lot of diffe-
rence whether your character is 111111 or CCCCCC.

 

[locarno24]

and I will review the naming codes for characters, which I was having a hard time grasping.

The stat codes? 777777 or whatever? It's essentially a shorthand. Letters appear because stats don't stop at 9. 10 is A, 11 B, etc.

This is what I meant. If your normal and normally outfitted character has to face an opponent with this equipment and the skills required to use it, it does not make a lot of difference whether your character is 111111 or CCCCCC.

True in a fair fight. However a lot can be achieved by combining stats and skills to make it an unfair fight. Against some putative CCCC77 opponent with Stealth/3, Atheletics (Co-Ordination)/2 and Recon/2, you categorically will not see them until they want you to.

 

[jasongee0656]

All of these items have been very helpful, and I thank everyone for your contribution. This might be out of topic, but some of your posts made me thing about it.

Should I limit the number benefits my npc get? For example:

[locarno24 wrote:
A VFR Gauss Rifle with a Biomass Rangefinder and Specialised Intelligent Weapon upgrade, Ballistic Tracking Lenses, Advanced Subdermal Armour and Battle Dress with Vislight Chameleon, Assorted Combat Drugs ...]

I would think all of those items added up would change the lethal level of my npc.

 

[SSWarlock]

True in a fair fight. However a lot can be achieved by combining stats and skills to make it an unfair fight. Against some putative CCCC77 opponent with Stealth/3, Atheletics (Co-Ordination)/2 and Recon/2, you categorically will not see them until they want you to.

And lest anyone think simple thermal imaging will spot this guy, the skill mix will give him the knowledge of how to degrade the tech's abilities as much as possible using terrain and natural materials, assuming he's not from a radically lower tech world than that of the sensor tech he's trying to spoof.

 

[AndrewW]

All of these items have been very helpful, and I thank everyone for your contribution. This might be out of topic, but some of your posts made me thing about it.

Should I limit the number benefits my npc get? For example:

[locarno24 wrote:
A VFR Gauss Rifle with a Biomass Rangefinder and Specialised Intelligent Weapon upgrade, Ballistic Tracking Lenses, Advanced Subdermal Armour and Battle Dress with Vislight Chameleon, Assorted Combat Drugs ...]

I would think all of those items added up would change the lethal level of my npc.

Don't worry too much about the benefits for NPC's, you can always assign them the equipment they are likely to have. The local thugs probably aren't going to be walking around with FGMP's, the pirates boarding the players ships aren't going to either, but that's more because they want things intact.

 

[jasongee0656]

Don't worry too much about the benefits for NPC's, you can always assign them the equipment they are likely to have. The local thugs probably aren't going to be walking around with FGMP's, the pirates boarding the players ships aren't going to either, but that's more because they want things intact.

Ok understand...thanks

 

[locarno24]

Agreed. I wouldn't bother rolling up an NPC - his stats, skills and gear are what you say they are.

Just bear in mind the price of the gear you're handing to them; it's not a direct 1-for-1 trade, but a credit is of a similar order of currency to a dollar, pound or euro (one-appointment doctor's bill Cr50, car Cr6,000, good quality tent Cr200, etc, etc)

The aforementioned suit of gunned-up battledress costs the better part of Cr5,000,000 by the time you've strapped weapons, software and grav assist to it. This is not something a thug can afford. Even for pirates with their own starship, this is a non-trivial proportion of the price of the ship.

You should really encounter opponents like this only once unless you're playing a military campaign; in normal circumstances these are the dudes the Zhodani/Ine Givar/Ninja Space Parrots/Whatever have dropped in to assassinate the Imperial Baron. Stopping them is the climax of a campaign and will not be achieved using the Gun Combat skill.

Given that they are essentially each wearing an AC-130 spooky gunship, standing around in cloth armour and fighting with three gauss pistols, a shotgun and a pair of cutlasses, or whatever similar odds and ends your players have is a shortcut to becoming very dead indeed.

 

[jasongee0656]

wearing an AC-130 spooky gunship

That made my day!!! Thanks mate.

 

[CosmicGamer]

With Traveller, combat is often a last resort.

If the character is the type to rush into or start a fight without evaluating their opponent and they CHOOSE to fight to the death no matter what then, well, it's not the GMs fault. Sometimes the player isn't as smart as their character and this is where the GM needs to chime in "Your character realizes there is no way they will defeat the army veteran in battle armor with their pistol."

There is almost always the option to avoid a fight, run from it, or even surrender. If the fight is a lost cause and the players don't see any way out the GM can always point out options the character might see and even have the opponent offer the solution. "Unless you want your permanent home to be six feet under this planets surface you'll put down your weapons, get on your ship, and never come back." So the characters don't complete their job/mission/objective, but they are alive. In real combat commanders may be pissed, but I think they'd rather have their troops retreat than die.

Been a long time since I played D&D and I never GM'ed it. Do you match up the enemy so that the characters win every time?

 

[locarno24]

Been a long time since I played D&D and I never GM'ed it. Do you match up the enemy so that the characters win every time?

Not necessarily, but with a specific XP value for each opponent, it's a lot easier to say "I've spent 8,000 XP" on dudes for this fight, therefore given your level(s), it should be a walkover/tough but winnable/will probably kill at least one of you."

Traveller, sadly, doesn't have a similar 'ready reckoner' - as noted, there's too many possibilities to figure it out easily.

 

[jasongee0656]

Been a long time since I played D&D and I never GM'ed it. Do you match up the enemy so that the characters win every time?

It depends on how you want the encounter to go. AD&D makes it easy to pair npc/creatures to PC becuase the system uses XP values. Creatures and NPC have assoicated XP values, so it becomes very easy to match a baddie with a PC.

However, making the creatures in the encounter about 2 levels higher then the PCs will give the PC party a nice little encounter, which will keep them guessing.