[RPG] Abstract Combat Example: Lammasu v. Hill Giant-

Lammasu v. Hill Giant-

I'm going to run this without the Condition Penalties, merely tracking the cumulative DP loss.
--In a future post I'll throw in the bells and whistles.

Lammasu 7+7 = 9
Hill Giant 8 + 1-2 = 8

The Lammasu has already depleted its combat-capable spells for the day, and the Hill Giant's five Dire Wolves have been slain prior to this fight.

FIRST SEQUENCE-

The Lammasu rolls his 9 Fight Dice: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 | 2 | 4, 4 | 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4, 4 | 5, 5 | 6

Their highest Result Totals are:
* Lammasu: (4 + 4) 8
* Hill Giant: (5 + 5) 10
--The Lamassu loses by 2 points and this still places it in Condition 6: Fit

Their next highest Result Totals:
* Lammasu: 6
* Hill Giant: (4 + 4) 8
--The Lamassu again loses by 2 points, and this is still C6: Fit

Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: (1, 1, 1, 1, 1) 5
* Hill Giant: 6
--The Lammasu loses by 1. We'll say, just for variety, that this is enough to from him to C5: Able

Next RTs:
* Lammasu: 2
* Hill Giant: 3
--Lammasu loses by 1 point, still C5: Able

Next RTs:
* Lammasu: 0
* Hill Giant: 2
--Lammasu loses by 2 points again, knocking him down to C4: Pained

SECOND SEQUENCE-

Both opponents are still up in the fight, and so both refresh their FD pools.

The Lammasu decides to pull 1FD from his pool to keep in Contingency to block an unchallenged Effect.
--The Hill Giant taunts the lawful creature and sees no need to hedge his bets, going all-in.

The Lammasu rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 2, 2, 2 | 5 | 6, 6, 6, 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 1 | 2 | 3, 3 | 4, 4 | 5, 5

This Sequence's Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: (6, 6, 6, 6) 24
* Hill Giant: (5, 5) 10
--The Hill Giant is surprised by the ferocious paw attacks his bloodied foe has delivered, losing by 14 points, dropping him directly to Condition 2: Heavy Bleeding

Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: (2, 2, 2) 6
* Hill Giant: (4, 4) 8
--This would normally be a loss by the Lammasu of 2 DPs, but he expends his one Contingency Die to entirely negate the 2 points, suffering no damage this exchange.

Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 5
* Hill Giant: (3, 3) 6
--The already injured, but still very capable Lammasu takes another DP difference, still Pained.

Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 0
* Hill Giant: 2
--The Lammasu drops to Bleeding

Next Highest:
* Lammasu: 0
* Hill Giant: 1
--Lammasu still Bleeding

SEQUENCE THREE-

Keenly aware of how things could go wrong again, as well as how close to death his foe is, the Lammasu makes the daring decision to put 2FD in Contingency.
--The Hill Giant amazingly rolls well enough to realise how close he is to losing, and saves 1FD in Contingency.

The Lammasu rolls his 7 Fight Dice: 1, 1 | 2, 2 | 4 | 5 | 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 7 Fight Dice: 2 | 3 | 4, 4, 4 | 5 | 6

This Sequence's Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 6
* Hill Giant: 12
--The Lammasu cashes-in one Contingency Die to negate the 6 DP difference he would have suffered.

Next Highest:
* Lammasu: 5
* Hill Giant: 6
--The Lammasu decides to risk the 1 DP difference, and drops to Heavy Bleeding.

Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 4
* Hill Giant: 5
--The Lammasu sucks up the 1 DP difference, still Heavy Bleeding

Next RTs:
* Lammasu: (2, 2) 4
* Hill Giant: 3
--The Hill Giant rolls to see if he is smart enough to use his Contingency Die and fails to use it, suffering 1 DP and on the cusp of Unconsciousness.

Next RTs:
* Lammasu: (1, 1) 2
* Hill Giant: 2
= 0 Draw

SEQUENCE FOUR-

The Lammasu holds 1FD in Contingency.
--The Hill Giant goes all-in.

The Lammasu rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 1 | 2 | 4, 4 | 5, 5 | 6, 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 2, 2 | 3 | 4, 4 | 6, 6, 6

Sequence Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 12
* Hill Giant: 18
--The Lammasu uses his 1 Contingency Die to negate the 6 DP difference.

Next:
* Lammasu: (5, 5) 10
* Hill Giant: (4, 4) 8
--The Hill Giant loses by 2 DP, going Unconscious. With No Contingency Dice, he cannot effect wakefullness and is helpless.

Next:
* The extremely Lawful Lammasu does not dispatch his foe, but does use his remaining heal spells to heal himself, and moves off just far enough and waits the rest of the day and night for the hyenas, jackals, and vultures to finish-off his opponent before flying away to nurse his remaining injuries, thanking the forces of Law for his victory.

[RPG] Optional Abstract ('Indie') Combat-

Copyright (c) 2010 Kyrinn S. Eis

ABSTRACT COMBAT-

:: This is a purely optional, 'Indie', method of resolving combat that involves a higher degree of Player Skill than the traditional 'Strike and Effect' tactical method standard to most RPGs (including UWoM).


Fight Dice & The Quality Roll-

At the start of any conflict (the beginning of a Fight Sequence), regardless of sort (Psychic, Authority, Unarmed, Melee, Ranged, etc.), roll any Fight Dice your character possesses and wishes to use in the Fight, and pool them by Result (all 1's, all 2's, all 3's, etc.).

Compare your highest Result Total to that of your opponent.

:: Your opponent takes the difference in Effect, off of either Alertness (Some Psychic, all Authority, some Unarmed or Melee, and some Magic), or Performance (anything not listed under Alertness).
:: Any Fight Dice not used (Contingency Dice) by your opponent (or vice-versa) in the Fight can be expended (whole die) to entirely negate any Effect you may have won over them.
:: Once Penalties accrue, they are applied directly to the Results of rolled dice (not your Contingency dice held in reserve), sometimes eliminating your ability to Fight at all. These penalties affect all remaining Result Dice, so it is possible for a Condition Penalty to end a fight while the opponent is still conscious, for instance. The Fight has simply left them/you,. etc.

If you or your opponent are eliminated from the Fight (Condition One or Zed), make your Quality Roll (2d12).

:: On a White Result: No further action is possible, and your sequence ends.
:: On a Black Result: You are prevented from any action, but your sequence isn't yet complete.
:: Red (or better): Locus may be consumed to act on a 1:1 ratio.
:: Orange: Regain up to 1d -- You've still got a bit of Fight left in you after all
:: Yellow: Regain up to 2d
:: Green: Regain up to 3d
:: Blue: Regain up to 4d
:: Violet: Regain up to 5d, and one Locus point -- 'Fool! You thought you could defeat me?!'

If you are still active at the end of a Fight (even in lousy shape), you regain all of your Fight Dice and can/may enter another Fight Scene.

Any unused Contingency Dice may be used to recover one Condition Level, per die.
:: Saving even only one Fight Die may just save your character's life.

[RPG] Update: 26th, March-

Sadly, Tybylt's player didn't want to run a Ref and Single Player session today, as the LGS co-owner is out at the post GAMA trade show, and my SO is working tonight.
--I played a Pathfinder Cleric of Heironeous in Tyb's player's 'bottom-up' campaign I joined last night, that does not take place in Greyhawk. My LN Cleric started out with 17 HP at 1st Level. :)
---Goblin Rogue and Halfling Sorcerer were like naughty children (and honestly, isn't that the truth?) playing 'real-life' chutes and laders. Still, the mega-mat was fun to have the dungeon complex mapped out on.

So, the ten Skill Areas are shaping up to be rather BoL-like in their overall utility, which I think will suit the 'revised' UWoM rather well.
--More focus on in-game definition of what a character can do with them (better than someone who doesn't have them; not to the exclusion of not having them) than a multitude of fiddly, once in a while, binary skills.
---Each of them has some extra effect, whether strictly mechanical, or more ephemeral (such as providing income if regularly plied).

Received three graphs (from a gaming friend on Mike Moorcock's site) on the 2d12 mechanism I have adopted, and the pyramidal non-curve, non-flat results are very regular and I think it sits well with my notions of exceptional results (plus or minus) being unusual events, and reality humming along nicely most of the time.
--I'm still keeping my eyes open for the possibility of something else coming along before print (such as above friend's favoured 3d8), but I'm not holding my breath, to mix metaphors.
---All I know is that flat rolls (either single die [d20, etc.] or d100) just don't cut it for me, as they are too chaotic. Not that there's anything wrong with that for other people and their games. ;)

I should be gaming Moldvay B/X right now.
--See ya... :D

Daily Zen-

My Homepage

If a fleeting thought conjures the whole,
How can I describe Reality in figures?
While empty moonlight on the water shows everything,
The mirror of No Mind reflects only Nothingness.

- Baekoon Kyunghan (1299-1375)

Cross-Pollination-

Superhero Necromancer's fine blog is back in action, HERE.

[Playtest Campaign] 19th, March-

Roughly two weeks after the fall of the house of Ahzenbakh and the dispelling of the Shorrannin-induced psionic delusion of the goat demon/green flame, the Governors of Doran have re-located to the old Ahzenbakh mansion, having granted the old Governorial mansion to lady Miren, who has changed her last name to Sovalt. In the exchange, Miren Sovalt has been made the Dean of the Governor's Academy, and the unused rooms set up as dorms for the most excellent students (comprised both of orphans of the pirate attack, as well as children of the entitled and wealthy eager to have the best education [read as: status] afforded their progeny).

Business dealings have brought the purchase of much of the island by the Guild Council to the Governors' attention, and a reception was held by said group in the hopes of securing their favour/capitulation. It was an interesting set of conversations as deals were made to have the Guild Education system integrated with the Academy, in exchange for a cut of all profits from Guild business. Likewise, Mela Mela's apothecary businesses and weapons shoppes have been brought into the fold, as it were, with Mela now an official Doctor of Medicine, and the author of the Pharmaceutical Purity Standards (as well as fronting her own independent regulatory investigations agency of the industry). Tyb also met Marnharnnan businessmen who were affiliated with the Kherstic League (possibly undercover), who urged that the Governors make the effort necessary to purchase and protect frontier parcels on the mainland. Mela was approached by a Marnharnnan woman who identified herself as an agent of the Marnharnnan Defence Agency, and asked Mela to make the trip to a region of the Riverland Peninsula to aid in diagnosing and treating an unknown illness growing to epidemic proportions.

With Mela and Darius off to the mainland, Tybalt (actually Tybylt based on the meaning of his name, --my mistake. I'll have to go back and edit all of these posts with the incorrect spelling.) and Ashta were preparing to set off on the journey to the realm of the Shlzm who transported the Sphere to the Shadow Plane to further 'her' self-repairs. To this end, Tybylt travelled to visit the Sphere, and encountered some extremely long-limbed creatures fascinated with the scintillating 'pearl' in the deep glooms of that realm. The Sphere stated that she would be well enough to get underway (save low fuel) in a matter of hours. Upon return to the Mundane Realm, Tybylt [Oh, look, a squirrel! ;p ] decided to launch his anti-smuggling operation in earnest, and affected a cover identity, Yihi ('Ending Song'), a flautist of moderate renown.

Setting off, he studies outside talent and determines that a former Guild Council assassin, gone freelance and worked over for her infidelity, was the best choice in the region, and hires the woman. She now goes by the name, 'the Swan'. Their first circuitous and wending ploy is to procure an extant smuggling operation. Surface investigation brings them to a small rocky island only large enough for a few dozen warehouses, brothels, and stables, with a periphery of moored boats serving as the rest of the town's services (inns, taverns, shops, etc.).
-- >> The merchant to be whacked is in fact the good and loyal individual, and his lover/partner is the one with the gambling debt that is dragging the business down. Yihi and the Swan bail on that plan and as they are discussing their next move, there is a knock on the door. Special Investigators from Doran are there to arrest Yihi. Tybylt/Yihi grabs Swan and uses his shadowy powers to E&E from them. An illusion later, and the last member of the team is thrown off their actual location and Tybylt and Swan drive off with the carriage occupied by some unknown person, whereupon he purposefully wedges the transport into an alleyway too narrow to open the doors, and they dip on the horses until they send them in different directions. The two find a sleazy inn operated by a former player's first character (the psychopathic scumbag in the adventure detailed in the earliest Dragonsfoot-link =---> posts), and stay there just long enough to Plane Travel via Shadow, back to Doran. Tybylt drops his guard and lets slip a few references that allow Swan to realise who he really is, and she then informs him that the reason she went freelance was because the last Guild contract she'd been given was on him, roughly two months prior (post-pirate-attack).

Ymyk, the LGS co-owner's character (the one with the alternating personalities due to a bad dual brain mutation), locks himself in a closet in the new mansion until Tybylt and the Swan arrive (introductions all around), whereupon Ymyk takes Tyb to the gambling house he (as the crime boss identity, Zhakun) owns, and the underground complex annex rife with newly-set traps protecting the subterranean warehouses. Ymyk hands the whole operation over to Tybylt (as Yihi) [still with me?], who accepts once he lays down righteous smack upon an enforcer who looked to be the most trouble of the bunch. Another thug, Kleph, loses a few fingers on a scythe-blade drawer trap, but has the new boss to thank for one of Mela's regeneration potions (it will still take weeks to fully regrow them, but they will regrow). Introductions of the work crew are made, and each is re-interviewed for by Yihi.


I totted-up the Glory sums for the characters, with (no surprise) Tybylt clearly in the lead, with Ashta about 2/3rd his junior, and Mela next by a fair margin.

The tandoori food was yummy. :)

Update 19th, March-

This Week's Top 5 List of Stuff-

* Intro/Overview of the game, Die-Rolling Conventions, and the obligatory What is a RolePlaying Game?

* Putting the Fight in Fight Dice

* Duty, Glory, and Honour as the social-currency of the system (Playtest starts this session).

* M. Thomas' Aroshi critter write-up

* I am currently working on the South East section of the map of the Marnharnnan continent, as that is the section most applicable to my Playtest Campaign.


Tandoor lunch planned for the game. :)