Tactical Combat

[Naaman]

[Whill]

Again, RAW terms used below...

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

This is what I've been talking about the whole time:

[CRMcNeill]

A simpler version of that would be to just apply a Tactics-generated modifier to the Difficulty to hit the character who is shooting on the move.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Naaman]

Except that I think its silly to use a difficulty that is native to the weapon instead of (as opposed to in addition to) a reaction skill roll.

Other games make attack roll difficulty inherent to the target, which is basically intuitive. A moving target is harder to hit than a stationary one. There is no getting around that fact.

We've also discussed here and elsewhere that the dodge skill should imply some kind of movement, so it seemed natural to me that we were all talking about situations where the player is rolling dodge.

To be clear, all this time, I've been assuming we are talking about a character rolling dodge. Also, it's my interpretation of the RAW that the dodge roll replaces the weapon's difficulty, regardless of whether there are concealment/cover/protection variables at play. In other words, its either base difficulty + cover bonus, or dodge roll + cover bonus.

I now understand that others were assuming either dodge by itself, or base difficulty + cover.

If you are using base difficulties, it makes worlds more sense to grant tactics bonuses to cover modifiers.
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SpecForce Combat Elements
All About Lightsabers: Designing, Building, and Fighting

[Whill]

[Naaman]

[Whill]

[Naaman]

New Skill

Armored Combat
Attribute: Dexterity
Time to Use: One action (reaction skill)
Specializations: Specific type of armor worn (storm trooper armor, blast vest, etc.).
Effect: This skill represents your ability to make optimal use of your armor. Instead of trying to avoid being hit, you rely on your armor's protection (and your skill in positioning yourself relative to active threats) to reduce or negate the effects of being hit.

Instead of trying to dodge or parry an attack directed against you, you may attempt to position your armor such that it absorbs the blow without causing you harm.

Using this skill counts as a reaction skill for the round. Any attack roll which fails it's base difficulty still misses. Otherwise, the attack automatically hits you. Before rolling to resist damage, roll armored combat and consult the chart below:

If your roll beats difficulty level:
Easy: +1
Moderate: +2
Difficult: +1D
Very Difficult: +1D+2
Heroic: +2D

Add the modifier to your damage resistance roll when resolving the effects of any hits scored against you.

Example: You have a strength of 3D+2 and are wearing bounty hunter armor (+2D Phys/+1D Energy). A stormtrooper fires his weapon at you and you decide to let your armor absorb the hit. You roll your armored combat skill and get a 17 (difficult).

The stormtrooper rolls his blaster rifle's damage (5D) and you make your roll to resist of 5D+2 (your strength, +1D for your armor's protection and +1D more for your armored combat bonus).
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A couple of notes here:
I'm considering starting the armor boost at 1D for an easy roll and stepping it up to 2D+1 or 2D+2 at the heroic level, considering that the character is essentially just taking the hit (the benefits need to be "worth the risk").

Also, the idea is that sometimes, dodging is "useless" in that there are too many well coordinated shots coming your way (or a blast weapon has too much radius to avoid, etc.), so you just brace for impact, so to speak, making sure your armor is positioned as well as possible and hope for the best. For example, the way the US Army deals with a grenade landing near by is to get as far away as possible in about 1 second and then go prone, face to the floor with the helmet facing the grenade (since the helmet is--in theory--capable of stopping grenade shrapnel).

This would also be kinda cool as a melee combat option: a heavily armored brute just letting his armor take all the blows while he hews down scores of foes in front of him with a vibro axe. I also get images of characters like Warb Null slaying masses without trying to dodge/parry.

In terms of coordinated attacks, this would create an interesting moment of choice for a commander: boost the attack rolls or boost the damage rolls? The target's choice of defense will have a pretty big impact on which option is best.

The way I envision coordinated attacks is like this:

Either everyone takes well aimed shots at the target (meaning that if you dodge one shot, you've dodged them all), or...

Some shoot at the target, and others shoot into the area(s) where the target may attempt to dodge toward (effectively creating a "no escape" situation; the L-shaped ambush is a good representation of this concept).
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SpecForce Combat Elements
All About Lightsabers: Designing, Building, and Fighting

[garhkal]

If i used this, or something like it, i'd cap the bonus you could get, EQUAL to the protective value the suit of armor already gave...
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[Dredwulf60]

When I first learned to shoot in the army, we were taught to blade the body,(if shooting from a standing position) basically turning so that the side of the body was toward the enemy making a slimmer target.

This was lessons-learned from previous wars where body armor was not really effective against bullets and you did everything to make yourself a small target.

By the time I got out, the philosophy had changed. You 'squared up' to your target, facing that direction. The difference was the development of more effective armor being able to take a bullet on the frontal plate, where it might penetrate if it entered the side armor or arm pit.

Is this the kind of thing that influenced this?
It would also be something Din Djarin would have, since in certain scenes he certainly feels comfortable in letting his armor do the work while he is intent on moving or attacking.

I would agree with garkhal though, I don't think your ability to make sure your armor protects you should actually make your armor work better than it's maximum strength.

I would suggest if your armor gives you a +2D to soak normally, the skill could give you extra dice to roll, but limit the maximum bonus from the armor at +12.

Basically the skill giving you the best chance to get the maximum effect out of what you have.

Therefore a guy with a high level in Armored Combat is still going to WANT something like beskar instead of just making do with a basic blast vest because he's 'just so damned good' at making all the shots hit him in the same spot.

[Naaman]

[Dredwulf60]

Not trying to cross-plug my ideas, but just something to consider if it percolates something in your design;

In my armor system, each armor is rated for how much bonus dice to soak, but it also has a rating based on coverage.

The idea being that the coverage value is higher based on how comprehensively it protects the body's whole surface.

A shooter can choose to make a 'called shot' to bypass armor. They then have to roll higher than the armor's coverage (plus any dodge related additions).

If they succeed, they have bypassed the armor's protection. When the target rolls to soak, they get no extra dice from the armor.

So, under my system, if I were to adapt your Armored Combat skill, I would have the skill increase the Coverage of the armor.

Of course, I imagine attempting to bypass armor comes up a lot more in a game based around mandos.

[Naaman]

I thought for a while on how the rules would interact with a called shot, and just decided to figure it out "along the way."

Based on what I posted earlier in the thread for called shots, and since the target isn't trying to dodge if using this skill, I figure the attacker whould just have to make a successful roll (including the penalty for the called shot) and if he hits, he hits. Though I suppose in some scemarios, some protection could still be achieved (using armored gauntlets to protect the face, for example).
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SpecForce Combat Elements
All About Lightsabers: Designing, Building, and Fighting