Q: ...does that mean our contestants are not the same persons as their homeworld counterparts?
A:
"Remember what you learned in High School kids: what's past the event horizon, stays behind the event horizon."
Turn 4I've started rolling 2d6 instead of 1d6 for initiative. Less overlap that way. All +1 modifiers have been bumped to +2, and vice versa[12]
Nyr takes a shot with his rifle [1][2][1] and misses horribly. The bullet flies past Gordak's face, hits a relatively flat piece of stone, and part of the jacket richochets back toward Nyr's head, scratching his ear. ([3] vs [1])
Nyr then tries to hide [2], but fails to find a good hiding spot.
[9-2]
Nix's swing connects ([6][3][3] vs [4][2]) and smashes Gordak's face in. ([6][5][4][3][2][1] vs [2][2][1][1]) (full house!).
Gordak leans over, fallen. His body dematerializes in place, forming a sort of Glittering Sparkle Dust that floats up into the sky.
[7]
Cliff didn't get to attack this round.
[4]
Haldir didn't get to heal this round.
[3]
Azet didn't get to attack this round.
"Well there you have it, folks!" announces the stagemaster.
"That was one hell of a ride! But I'm afraid we have to save the rest for later. Now it's time to get voting on the next combat arena, where the remaining five will face off, plus a new recruit fresh out of the Materializer."(Round 1 over because Imic/Gordak took a critical and 2 extra wounds, and was already heavily injured. You can rejoin the next fight if you want since there's no-one on the waitlist, but a new player gets priority for one round. After that you are counted as a new player. You can use the same character, too.)
(I noticed that combat was a little too straightforward to be interesting. Most people were just telling their characters to attack without specifying body part or attack type. So I am proposing a list of changes for the next round to try and add more choice. What do you think?)
Changes to Actions: I added first aid actions to patch up bleeding, and I split Move into Move and Charge. Move is for locations, Charge is for chasing people.
Also, players were using Stealth to get away from combat, so I added counter-espionage.
First Aid: Try to heal a bleeding wound, rolling d6+INT-(Bleed value) and succeeding on a 4+. Can't attack or Active Defense same turn.
Cut Circulation: Tie a piece of cloth or tourniquet around a limb, cutting off bleeding but making the limb unusuable.
Charge: Like Move, but chases a moving target instead--which may move before it's your turn. You can only charge if the enemy's position was within two Moves, and the max distance you can charge is equal to the default distance times the ratio of your respective AGI stats. If you succeed, you'll be placed in melee range.
Search. This gives you an extra, private roll to finding a stealthed character within a 3x3 square around you. You roll d6, and if your d6 is higher than the target's roll to maintain stealth, you get notified via PM. INT modifiers apply as usual.
Changes to Combat: I added a couple new actions, two for melee. I also changed Snap Shot to make it more effective at what it is (a low quality attack that's meant to be "quicker" than a normal aimed shot). Also, Defend was given a slight offensive use.
Melee Actions:
Counter - Similar to Attack, but you get to predict what bodypart your opponent goes for (or if he Defends). If you call it correctly, you get to reroll both your attack and the incoming attack (if applicable) on the Defense Phase
Feint - Pretend to Attack a bodypart. If your opponent counters your pretend attack, make a different aimed attack and nullify the counter. If he doesn't try to counter, then you get an attack aimed at a random bodypart.
Note that Close Range attacks with Ranged weapons can be countered, blocked (if your shield can take a bullet), or parried like any melee weapon. Parrying a gun just involves swatting it out of the way.
Changed Combat Actions:
Snap Shot - One Attack. Does not cost an Action. Hits random bodypart(s).
Defend - Reroll your Defense dice if you get hit this turn. If you block melee, your opponent gets -1 to all Mental stats next turn, and you trade base initiative dice if yours are lower.
Note that 'reroll' only rerolls your own dice, not your enemy's.
Clarifying Bodyparts: I'm adding a table to help understand how random bodypart selection works. You roll a d6 and select from the table below:
[6] - Head. Bleeds twice as much on a 5+ and all debuffs are major mental handicaps. A [6] will knock you out for the next round in addition to heavy bleeding.
[5] - Upper torso, where the heart and lungs are. Major debuffs affect AGI and STR. A [6] will pierce the heart for a +3 bleed or worse.
[4] - Lower torso. Bleeds a lot, but debuffs are mostly mental.
[3] - A leg. You can only pierce the artery once for an extra Bleed, but debuffs affect AGI considerably.
[2] - An arm. You can only pierce the artery once for an extra Bleed, but debuffs affect AGI considerably. You can't use a broken arm to swing a melee weapon.
[1] - A hand. You can't bleed out from your hand unless it gets blown off, but you need hands to fire ranged weapons.
Aiming at some bodyparts confers a penalty to DEX due to their size:
Head: -2 DEX
Arms/Legs/Hands: -1 DEX
Name: Nix, son of Drix
Physical Stats:
DEXterity - 2
AGIlity - 1
STRength - 3
VITality - 2
Mental Stats:
FOCus - 2 (1)
TACtics - 2
INTuition - 1
PERception - 3
Trait: Can block 3 Debuffs per round.
Weapons/Spells/Misc:
+2 Bat'leth: Heavy weapon (Heavy weapons treat 3's as 4's for wounding)
+1 Mek'leth: 2 Attacks, Light weapon (attacking is a free action)
Wounds: -
Name: Gordak Greymane the younger
Physical Stats:
DEXterity - 2
AGIlity - 2
STRength - 2
VITality - 2
Mental Stats:
FOCus - 2
TACtics - 2
INTuition - 2
PERception - 2
Trait: Roll a d6 at the end of each turn, heal that wound in your list of wounds
Weapons/Spells/Misc:
+2 Sword: 2 Attacks, Medium weapon
Shield: Heavy weapon (can shield bash). Toughness 2 (adds +2 to your active defense)
Magitech Gun: Two-handed gun. 4 STR. Has access to the following spells:
- Volcanic Ash: 3 STR, Sets enemy ablaze if hit on a 2+ wound (STR 1 damage each turn, no AGI defense)
- Frost Nova: AoE blast with STR 3. Deals no damage, but stuns on a 5+ (no dodge, 1 action per turn), and slows (halves AGI) on 3+ wounds.
- Magic Missile: 3 STR, Homing (Can't Active Defense with AGI or DEX)
Wounds: -
Name: Nyr
Physical Stats:
DEXterity - 3
AGIlity - 3
STRength - 1
VITality - 1
Mental Stats:
FOCus - 3
TACtics - 1
INTuition - 1
PERception - 3
Trait: No AGI test for moving over difficult terrain + Take Aim is a free action (doesn't count as combat, but you can't consume the buff on the same turn)
Weapons/Spells/Misc:
Samurai Edge: Pistol, 2 Attacks, STR 2
Grenades: AoE STR 3 blast.
+2 Sword of Kusanagi: 2 Attacks, Medium weapon
Laspistol: Pistol, STR 3.
M40: Two-handed rifle, STR 3, Does not break stealth
Punch Daggers: 3 Attacks, Light weapon
+1 Boot Knife: 2 Attacks, Light weapon, is always considered Drawn
+2 Choking Wire: Light weapon, Does not break stealth
+1 Kunai: 2 Attacks, Throwable Light weapon
LAW: AoE STR 4 blast. Ignores cover. Can't Active Defense against it, period. One use per round.
Wounds: -
Name: Azet
Physical Stats:
DEXterity - 2
AGIlity - 1
STRength - 3
VITality - 2
Mental Stats:
FOCus - 2
TACtics - 1
INTuition - 2
PERception - 3
Trait: Bloodthirsty Pride - You get 1 STR for 3 turns for each wound you inflict past the first in a single attack. Resets counter. You can only apply 3 to your physical attacks... for everyone's safety. The stacks still add up though.
Weapons/Spells/Misc:
+1 Firebrand: 2 Attacks, Heavy weapon (heavy weapons treat 3's as 4's for wounding),
- Alt fire: For each point of stats gained from Bloodthirsty Pride, add +1 Attack and STR to an AoE slash at 10m range. Consumes all buffs before the attack.
Incinerate: STR 5 beam with Heavy Weapon properties. Takes two actions to cast.
Eruption: AoE 3 STR blast around self, Can be Blocked (by STR), gives you a free jump in any direction and knocks down enemies (sets them to ground) if it wounds
Thousand Flames Barrage: 4 Attacks, 1 STR
- Thousand Flames Fury: Add +2 Attacks for each point of stats gained from Bloodthirsty Pride. Consumes all buffs before the attack.
Wounds: -
Name: Haldir Lulana
Physical Stats:
DEXterity - 3
AGIlity - 2
STRength - 2
VITality - 1
Mental Stats:
FOCus - 2
TACtics - 2
INTuition - 2
PERception - 2
Trait: All of your attacks are Super-Homing (Can't Active Defense against them)
Weapons/Spells/Misc:
+2 Ebony Bow: Medium weapon (Bows use STR for damage)
+1 Elvish dagger: 2 Attacks, Light weapon
Healing Potions: Roll d6 and heal a wound if 3 or above. Unlimited.
Wounds: -
Name: Cliff Haringson
Physical Stats:
DEXterity - 2
AGIlity - 3
STRength - 2
VITality - 1
Mental Stats:
FOCus - 4
TACtics - 2
INTuition - 1
PERception - 1
Trait: You can Active Defend anything, even cases where you normally wouldn't be able to (like Mallon's Incinerate).
Weapons/Spells/Misc:
Space Revolver: 2 Attacks, 3 STR, Light weapon
Space Whip: 3 Attacks, Light short-ranged weapon, automatically Wrestles in addition to an attack
Wounds: -