Combat System

Now I know why combat in TES games is so horrible.

So, Akaviri katana is a good weapon because the people who work on TES games don't know anything about armor, swords or shields, and probably haven't seen actual martial arts in practice. This leaves us in an unenviable position of having to work from scratch, or having to defy the world fluff.

Got something better for ya. How about a fully complete Morrowind PnP rulebook? ;D

http://boards.4chan.org/tg/res/12626802

http://www.sendspace.com/file/2r7hk8 - PDF Download

that guy who was working on it with his brother just posted a thread on /tg/ asking for playtesters. I think we should help the guy out.

EDIT: His email is suptg99@gmail.com

E-mail him if you want to try and playtest/GM.

Semester alomst over. I might be able to even work on this for a while, but my girlfriend (inb4 lol) is coming into town over the break, so I'll be somewhat busy. I'll try to get some work done though. I like the "embryonic" magic system - we just need to come up with equivalencies, because i don't think that, for example, 1d10 frost damage is as potent as 1d10 absorb health or 1d10 damage attribute.

Wait, we're still working on this?

Saint Jiub wrote: i don't think that, for example, 1d10 frost damage is as potent as 1d10 absorb health or 1d10 damage attribute.

Well yeah, different stuff should have different pricing, tiny tricks like Light being the cheapest and reality trolls being the most expensive, with everything else somewhere in between. Absorb Health is definitively not going to be on the cheaper end. I think it should be about twice the cost of a Damage Health "seed" (what are we going to call the basic magic effect units?) because it both deals damage to the target and heals the caster. Elemental damage should be cheaper still, because everything from rats onward can apparently defend from it in some way, and it includes a huge chance of collateral damage, is hard to conceal etc.

"we're still working on this" might be a bit generous as a descriptor, but "I still plan on trying to refine this and eventually use it" isn't far off from the trut. I'll try and put together a system of spell seeds and run it through here eventually. Even if nobody cares any more ;~;

I still care broheim.

Did y'all check out that link I posted? The guy apparently comes on during saturday nights on /tg/. I think we should help him refine his one considering he has pretty much built it already.

I checked that link.

Now, I am all for joining forces to minimize required effort, but that book mostly consists of stuff we've dismissed a year ago because we had better ideas.

it looks like the book is a direct analog to what the computer does for you when you play on the exbawx. It could be useful to examine the mechanics and adapt them to a mre streamlined form. I'll probably use it in my spell seed work.

well, the girlfriend thing is no longer an issue, so I just found myself with a fuckload of time to spend on the spell seed system.

BRB, creating a mage character. Gonna try to get the feel of spellcasting again.

I... sheesh, man :< My condolences. *manhug*

I appreciate it man. I think the best thing I can do now is find something to distract myself. Enter convenient distraction in the form of the elder scrolls pnp project.

I should be back in a couple days with some thoughts for the spell seed system. I found out that I have a character who has most of the spell effects already available in his spellbook, so I'm gonna work on translating the cost/difficulty from the vidya into something we can use for the TT.

I'll be posting some ideas in the magic thread, but I dunno who all is watching the magic thread, so here's the notification.

Slotha Sil wrote:
But using two actual weapons is not much of a battle tactic ... A guy with two longsword is a fantasy trope, even though it may be as stupid as chainmail bikini.

Miamoto Musashi wrote:
"There are many enemies" applies when you are fighting one against many. Draw both sword and companion sword and assume a wide-stretched left and right attitude. The spirit is to chase the enemies around from side to side, even though they come from all four directions. Observe their attacking order, and go to meet first those who attack first. Sweep your eyes around broadly, carefully examining the attacking order, and cut left and right alternately with your swords. Waiting is bad. Always quickly re-assume your attitudes to both sides, cut the enemies down as they advance, crushing them in the direction from which they attack. Whatever you do, you must drive the enemy together, as if tying a line of fishes, and when they are seen to be piled up, cut them down strongly without giving them room to move.

But then again, what does a guy who spent his whole life getting in sword fights and somehow managed to die of old age know?

Outlander wrote:
But then again, what does a guy who spent his whole life getting in sword fights and somehow managed to die of old age know?

That quote is largely irrelevant, as its main point is how to best face a multitude of opponents at once (which is a very grave situation, as anyone who trained any kind of martial art will tell you), not validity or superiority of two weapon fighting styles. Also, note that "companion sword" is the short sword worn in tandem with the katana, much like the European combinations of daggers and sabers/rapiers; it is something a noble or an officer would typically have on their person in their day-to-day life, and therefore something they'd likely rely on if ambushed. It is not something you use in a battle of your choosing.

Sun Tzu advises that, should you find yourself cornered and outnumbered, you should position your army against a cliff or some other suitable obstacle that will prevent them from fleeing, because men fighting for their lives fight harder than those fighting for lords or money. Should I use this as an argument that maneuvering yourself into a corner is a valid military tactic in normal situations?

I should probably stop here and mention how awesome it is that you're still working on this. I really like what you've got so far. When I left combat was verging into D&D hacknslash territory and I honestly didn't expect anyone to still be around. Furthermore, I apologize for the unnecessary degree of snark in my last post.

The cliff is a much more fair comparison than the chainmail bikini. I'm not arguing that running around with two swords all the time is going to be the best plan or even always useful, but in certain situations, as noted, it stands a chance of saving your ass. Perhaps it could offset the penalty for being outnumbered by some degree?

I also recall accounts and depictions of vikings going to battle with an axe in one hand and a sword in the other. I haven't tried it but it seems plausible; an axe provides lots of opportunities for hooking and wrenching weapons and shields out of the way for a cut with the other hand, and parrying with a sword to get a free master stroke with an axe is certainly more likely to fuck someone's armor than a katana.

As likely to keep you alive as a shield? Probably not, but shields break and sometimes you work with what you've got and it still works pretty well.

I'm not working on this. It's pretty obviously dead, and since I stopped DMing I really have no incentive to devote time and effort to developing a homebrew combat system for my own use. Not when I could be penning down the finishing touches on my horrible experimental fantasy novel or effecting the minimal amount of work needed to avoid getting kicked out of college again. I just get emails when something here updates and drop by to blow the dust off.