Fatigue

[PhilHibbs]

Fatigue seems quite harsh, in that it starts happening very quickly. A character might have 4 CAs per round (including bonus shield parry) and 12 CON, which means that after 15 seconds of fighting they have to make an Athletics Test or start getting tired. 15 seconds doesn't seem very long to me, and doesn't take into account what armour they are wearing, unless I decide that lightly armoured fighting counts as Medium Activity.

Another problem is, I didn't point out the effect of Athletics skill on Fatigue during character creation, so some of the players might feel a bit cheated. That's my fault though.

 

[DramaticExit]

Yeah that does sound short.

There was a longish thread discussing it here.

However in this thread Pete agrees it could be changed to Combat Rounds.

Page 61 "Heavy Activity"

Surely, this should be corrected to "Combat Rounds equal to his CON..." rather than Combat Actions ?

Page 63 says Sprinting can be maintained for CON Combat Rounds, too

Combat Rounds.

and a relevant snippet:

The reason I supported a change to Combat Rounds is that it simply cuts down on overhead and allows a more heroic level of engagement if you literally want PCs to scythe their way through an army of massively out-skilled opponents.

 

[Dan True]

I find that the lack of armour-penalty is the largest down on the fatigue rules... except of course that armour penalty have an effect on your Athletic skill to avoid fatigue.

But generally you tire very quickly in combat, especially armoured. Last weekend I was fighting two opponents (one after another, not at the same time). I was fighting in mail on my torso and head, and wielding sword and shield. I was fighting for almost precisely 3 minutes (36 combat rounds), and I was pretty tired in the end (I got tired after about 1½ minute (13 combat rounds) or so) ... So tired I could not keep my footwork properly (I'm not that routined ...)

I would properly be a guy with a decent Athletics skill (50-60%) and a CON of 12 or so. A trained knight or legionnaire, will of course have an athletic skill of 80+ and a CON of 16+, and will generally last much longer.

Sooh, I guess combat rounds is more realistic portrayal.. on the other hand that also practically removes it from play, as next to no combat lasts 15+ combat rounds in rq2.

- Dan

Edit: but of course a lot of the actions in our combat, was circling each other - which is strictly not heavy activity. So if sticking with combat actions, but keeping in mind that our can "rest" with medium activity during the combat it might work good. this way you can keep fighting a long time, by circling each other... but you can also try to keep the opponent active if you're in better condition then he, to tire him (by prolonging the short bursts of violence).

 

[Jujitsudave]

I'd say if you want more realism, go with fatigue in Actions. If you want cinematic, go with it in rounds. I'd further suggest that to be a bit more merciful as well as realistic, if a character opts to rest and do nothing for a full round (not even defend), it will reset the "fatigue counter". It shouldn't remove any penalties already incurred, however.