Combat

FuryMaster

Mongoose
I must say that I really like the combat system in this game. The best points are;

1. Life Bar: I love the fact that everyone has the same amount of hit points. A first lvl character with a gun is still a great danger to a 20th lvl character. The 20th lvl character is far more skilled than the 1st lvl character and is faster and so hits more easily and more often, but at the same time he cannot take the 1st lvl character for granted. Even more importantly, multiple 1st lvl characters against a 20th lvl character are more than likely to win....realism, i love it and it means that when my characters get to mid to high lvls i dont have to spend hours trying to come up with challenging enemies. Its a nice system.

2. Damage Resistance: I love the fact that the Constitution modifier is pare of your DR. In a lot of games where HP are pre-established, Constitution loses its value. In this game however Constitution measures your ability to outright resist damage...very nice.

3. Defense Roll: Instead of an automatic +10 to defense, characters roll a d20 and add results to their Defense. This adds more randomness to combat and should help players feel like destiny is less defined. Sometimes luck is better than skill and if luck is on the players side, she can overcome incredible odds...of course if luck isn't on their side, well disaster can happen and so Grace becomes that much more important.

I haven't tested this stuff yet, but I sure like it on paper.

FuryMaster
 
FuryMaster said:
3. Defense Roll: Instead of an automatic +10 to defense, characters roll a d20 and add results to their Defense. This adds more randomness to combat and should help players feel like destiny is less defined. Sometimes luck is better than skill and if luck is on the players side, she can overcome incredible odds...of course if luck isn't on their side, well disaster can happen and so Grace becomes that much more important.

You also add the difference between the DR roll and the Attack roll to damage, making a bad DR roll even more dangerous. I have a feeling this is a pretty deadly combat system.
 
That is the one part of the system that i'm not to sure that I like. The good news is that you can easily ignore the rule and leave the system intact, it will simply be a little less deadly.

I did forget to mention that the Critical Hit system is also pretty cool. A crit will actually result in status damage that the player doing the crit can choose.
 
The plus side is that the game IS that deadly. Coming from a hundred games where someone can pick any fight they want and just wait for a healer afterwards, Jeremiah really makes you roleplay...choose your battle wisely...or suffer some major consequences.

ALways remember, the door swings both ways...and a well-placed shot from one of your characters that drops a bad guy will earn a resounding applause as well.

It is really cool...trust me.

Bry
 
Although I'm a fan of JMS, I wasn't really hot about the idea of a Jeremiah RPG.
But the outlines you posted are really promising.
I'd go as far as say that it is d20 combat at its best.

Of course, I need to playtest these rules to confirm their greatness,
so I think I'll introduce these rules in my upcoming B5 game.
They wouldn't be cinematic enough for my current Star Wars game
and besides, would require more tinkering.

Good food for thought.
 
Thanks again, oh most exalted one !

[ducks to dodge incoming ego splattering] :lol:

No, seriously, thank you very much for the info, Matt...
 
My players really enjoyed the combat system. I ran it as written. At the end of the session, we discussed the system and they all voiced the same concern that I mentioned above, the extra damage from the attack roll makes combat too deadly and quick. The solution we came up with is to put a max cap of 5 extra hp damage from the attack roll. This should make combat last at least a few rounds longer. We will try this out next Monday and see how it works. Other than that, this combat system is the best D20 combat system i've seen...i think ill adopt it for Babylon 5 and Star Wars. may even look at it for fantasy games like Conan and Wheel of Time.

FuryMaster
 
even if some people do find it a bit complicated and crunchy

Ahem...a bit? Any game that adds an abacus to the necessary materials to play is slightly more than a bit complicated and crunchy.

8)

-Bry
 
We now have 2 games going a week, one on Monday that I run and one on Friday run by another GM. We have had 4 sessions so far and found the combat system as written too deadly, we wanted to add an average of 2 rounds additional combat to what we were averaging with the original rules (Which was 2 rounds at most). We have placed of cap of 5 additional hp of damage on top of the damage normally done by the weapon...this is one whole status shift on the life bar. This rule has achieved what we were looking for...combat is lasting from 3-5 rounds..still very deadly and enjoyable.

FuryMaster
 
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