Combat Example with Rob's Edit #6

[robject]

Edit #6 is lighter than previous versions.

Two scroungy "I'm gettin' paid one way or t'other" bounty hunters, Mr. Daag and Mr. Enlish, have tracked down two wrongly-accused "we're all innocent here in Cellblock E" criminals, Mr. Kuduk and Mr. Lagiir, amidst the alien ruins on Khuurakan.

Weapons and armor are more or less distributed evenly; although the bounty hunters have better weapon tech, the weapons carried by the criminals are more ergonomically designed.

Daag     A4544B   
    Fighter-4(Blades-1, Exotics-1), Stealth-3, Tactics-3
    Gauss Rifle-13
        R=5, B=0,  Bullet-6
    Standard Combat Armor-12, 60 kg, KCr 80, Ar 28
          EMCage: 12
      Flashproof: 12
        Radproof: 12
      Soundproof: 12
       Psishield: 4
       Insulated: 12
          Sealed: 12


Enlish   C8868B   
    Explosives-2, Fighter-5(Beams-1, Exotics-1)
    Freeze Projector-12
        R=3, B=1,  Cold-5
    Advanced Vacc Suit-12, 8 kg, KCr 20, Ar 20
          EMCage: 15
      Flashproof: 10
        Radproof: 11
      Soundproof: 11
       Psishield: 4
       Insulated: 35
          Sealed: 15
      
      
Kuduk    7A4A5B   
    Fighter-6(Beams-1, Slug Throwers-1), Stealth-2, Tactics-3
    Adv Assault Shotgun-9
        R=4, B=-2, Bullet-4 Bang-1 Blast-2
    Standard Combat Armor-12, 60 kg, KCr 80, Ar 28
          EMCage: 12
      Flashproof: 12
        Radproof: 12
      Soundproof: 12
       Psishield: 4
       Insulated: 12
          Sealed: 12


Lagiir   BC793B   
    Fighter-3(Unarmed-2), Stealth-5
    Adv Combat Rifle-10
        R=3, B=-2, Bullet-4 Frag-2
    Advanced Vacc Suit-12, 8 kg, KCr 20, Ar 20
          EMCage: 15
      Flashproof: 10
        Radproof: 11
      Soundproof: 11
       Psishield: 4
       Insulated: 35
          Sealed: 15

 

[robject]

The encounter is at Range 2. Plenty of cover everywhere. Everyone has been pretty noisy so there is noone concealed when combat begins (quite probably there was some Interpersonal Interactions that failed, plus some scrambling about).

The tactics mod for Daag is 3 + 4 + Flux(1) = 8.
The tactics mod for Kuduk is 3 + 5 + Flux(-1) = 7.

Daag's Fighting Number is a paltry 4 + 4 = 8.
Enlish's Fighting Number is 8 + 6 = 14.
Kuduk's Fighting Number is 10 + 7 = 17.
Lagiir's Fighting Number is 12+3 = 15.

Everyone is taking cover behind meter-thick ruin walls.

ROUND ONE

Status

Daag     A4544B   Ar 28
Enlish   C8868B   Ar 20
Kuduk    7A4A5B   Ar 28
Lagiir   BC793B   Ar 20

1. Daag fires his Gauss Rifle at Lagiir. Gauss guns, which typically use Burst Mode, make two attacks. He elects to give his Tactics Mod to Enlish. Secondly, he elects to make his attack Cautious: he attacks in the next round.


2. Enlish fires his Freeze Projector at Kuduk. Freeze Projectors attack Insulation, and ignore the Armor rating.

The Task: 2D (range) + 2D (cover) < 14 - 1 (Burden) + 8 (tactics mod). The roll is (5, 6, 2, 6) = 19, a hit.

Damage is Cold-5 = (6, 6, 6, 4, 2). Kuduk's armor absorbs the first two rolls. The remaining three hits are distributed among Kuduk's Str, Dex, End, Int, and Edu. He elects to take 6 points from Int (10-6=4), 4 points from Edu (5-4=1), and 2 points from Str (7-2=5).


3. Kuduk fires his Assault Shotgun at Enlish. Kuduk gives his tactics mod to Lagiir. Since Enlish is next to Daag, both are attacked.

The Task: 2D (range) + 2D (cover) < 17 + 2 (Burden)

Attacking Enlish: 4D (4, 2, 6, 2 = 14) < 19, a hit.
Damage is Bullet-4 Blast-2 (Bang-1). Bang doesn't contribute against armor, so damage is (6,4,2,1,1,1), all of which is absorbed by Enlish's armor.

Attacking Daag: 4D (5, 4, 1, 4 = 14) < 19, a hit.
Damage is Bullet-4 Blast-2 (Bang-1). Bang doesn't contribute against armor, so damage is (5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2), all of which is absorbed by Daag's armor.


4. Lagiir fires his ACR-10 at Enlish. Combat rifles use Burst Mode, which make two attacks.

The Task: 2D (range) + 2D (cover) < 15 + 2 (Burden) + 7 (tactics mod). 4D < 24.

Attack 1 is (4, 1, 4, 5 = 14) a hit.
Damage is Bullet-4 Frag-2 = (6,5,5,4,2,1 = 23). The first 4 dice are absorbed by armor, and Enlish elects to reduce Str by 3 (12-3) to 9. Enlish's armor is reduced by 10% to 18.

Attack 2 is (3, 4, 5, 3 = 15) a hit.
Damage is Bullet-4 Frag-2 = (6,4,3,3,2,1= 19). The attack does not penetrate.

 

[robject]

ROUND TWO

Status

Daag     A4544B   Ar 28
Enlish   98868B   Ar 18
Kuduk    5A441B   Ar 28
Lagiir   BC793B   Ar 20

Kuduk and Lagiir choose to leave cover and open distance to Range=3. Enlish pursues. Daag is now the only character firing from cover.

1. Daag makes his Cautious attack on Lagiir. His gauss gun serves two attacks.

The Task: 1D (Cautious) < 8. Two automatic hits.

Damage 1 is (6,5,3,2,2,1), no damage.
Damage 2 is (6,6,3,3,2,2), penetrating armor. Lagiir takes 2 points from Str (11-2=9). His armor is now Ar 18.

2. Enlish attacks Kuduk.

The Task: 2D < 14. A roll is successfully made to avoid exceptional failure.

Damage is (6,4,3,1,1) against Insulated 12. Kuduk takes 1 point from Str and 1 point from End.

3. Kuduk attacks Enlish.

The Task: 2D < 17. A roll is successfully made to avoid exceptional failure.

Damage is (6,6,5,4,3,1). Enlish takes 3 points from Str and 1 point from End, and his armor is reduced to Ar 16.

4. Lagiir attacks Enlish. The task is automatic, and a roll is successfully made to avoid exceptional failure.

Damage is (5,5,2,1,1,1), and does not penetrate.

 

[robject]

ROUND THREE

Status

Daag     A4544B   Ar 28
Enlish   68768B   Ar 16
Kuduk    4A341B   Ar 28
Lagiir   9C793B   Ar 18

Daag has now broken cover and is catching up with the other three, who are still moving. He uses the tactics mod.

1. Daag attacks Lagiir. The Task is 2D < 8 + 8 (Tactics Mod). A throw is made to check for exceptional failure (none).

Damage 1: (6,5,4,4,2,1) penetrates. Lagiir takes 2 points from Str and 1 from End. Armor is down to 16.
Damage 2: (5,5,4,3,3,3) penetrates. Lagiir takes 3 points from Str. Armor is down to 14.

2. Enlish attacks Kuduk. The Task is 2D < 14. A throw is made to check for exceptional failure (none).

Damage: (6,5,2,2,1) penetrates Insulation. Kuduk takes 2 pionts from Str and 1 point from End.

3. Kuduk attacks Enlish. A throw is made to check for exceptional failure (none).

Damage: (3,3,2,2,1,1), and does not penetrate.

4. Lagiir attacks Enlish. ACRs make two attacks, so we roll for two exceptional failures (none).

Damage 1: (6,5,4,4,4,2) penetrates. Enlish takes 4 points from End and 2 points from Str. Armor is Ar 14.
Damage 2: (5,5,3,3,2,1) penetrates. Enlish takes 2 points from Str and 1 point from End. Armor is Ar 12.

 

[robject]

ROUND FOUR

Status

Daag     A4544B   Ar 28
Enlish   48368B   Ar 12
Kuduk    2A241B   Ar 28
Lagiir   4C693B   Ar 14

All characters now resume cover.

1. Daag attacks Lagiir, and uses the Tactics Mod.

The Task: 2D + 2D (Cover) < 8 + 8 (Tactics Mod).

Attack 1: 8 < 16, success.
Damage: (6,5,5,4,4,3) penetrates. Lagiir takes 4 points from Dex, 4 points from End, and 3 points from Str. His Fighting Number is adjusted downwards from 12+3=15 to 7+3=10. His armor is now Ar 12.

Attack 2: 13 < 16, success.
Damage: (5,4,3,3,1,1) penetrates. Lagiir takes 1 point from End and 1 point from Dex. His Fighting Number decreases to 6+3=9, and his armor is now Ar 10.

2. Enlish attacks Kuduk.

The Task: 2D + 2D (Cover) < 14 - 1 (Burden). The roll is a 17, and he misses.

3. Kuduk attacks Enlish.

The Task: 2D + 2D (Cover) < 17 + 2 (Burden). The attack is a success.
Damage: (5,5,3,3,1,1) penetrates. Enlish takes 3 points from Str, 1 point from End, and another point from End. His armor is now Ar 10.

4. Lagiir attacks Enlish.

The Task: 2D + 2D (Cover) < 9 + 2 (Burden) + 7 (Tactics Mod). The ACR makes two attacks.

Attack 1: 4D (13) < 18, success.
Damage: (6,6,3,3,2,2) penetrates. Enlish only has Dexterity above a 1 now, and since damage is 10, he is now unconscious (and his Armor is now Ar 8).

There's no need to run the second attack.

 

[robject]

ROUND FIVE

Status

Daag     A4544B   Ar 28
Enlish   10168B   Ar 8    Unconscious
Kuduk    2A241B   Ar 28
Lagiir   16193B   Ar 10

Morale. At this point, Daag rolls 2D < 7 to keep his morale. And fails, so he opens distance in a cowardly fashion as quickly as possible. The two criminals take parting shots as they, too open distance and make their getaway. Range is increased to 3.

Kuduk attacks Daag.

The Task: 3D < 17 + 2 (Burden). A throw is made to check exceptional failure (none).
Damage: (5,5,4,3,3,2) does not penetrate.

Lagiir attacks Daag.

The Task: 3D < 9 + 2 (Burden) + 7 (Tactical Mod). Two throws are made to check exceptional failure (none).
Damage 1: (4,3,3,3,3,1) does not penetrate.
Damage 2: (6,6,5,5,3,3) penetrates but does not damage. Daag's armor is now 25.


The encounter ends.

 

[robject]

ANALYSIS

Exotic weapons are an interesting way to bypass strong armor.

I find Armor degradation is perhaps even more dramatic than taking damage.

Choosing which characteristics takes damage stretches out the encounter significantly. It also creates a gap in the action as each player essentially does bookkeeping. In other words, it's not interesting and makes combat longer, so I'm going back to random characteristic damage rolling. It's no slower than bookkeeping, and reduces the number of rounds spent in combat.

 

[Fovean]

Thanks for this, and for the analysis.

T5 seems to have trumped role-playing excitement with simulationist bookkeeping. Ah well...

Edit: sorry, that sounded unintentionally snarky. But such a thorough look at the mechanics of T5 combat makes me feel it's not for me. So much to love but SO MANY rules...

 

[pendragonman]

Rob, you might consider Mongoose's solution. All physical strikes hit Endurance first. Better than bookkeeping, different than random roll. Faster than both.

Not quite a CT feel though.

 

[robject]

Not quite a CT feel though.

I know. And it feels wrong when I play it.

 

[aramis]

I know. And it feels wrong when I play it.

I'm not the only one... MT feels more like CT than does Mongoose.