Striker combat rules for CT?

[SgtHulka]

The basic problem I have with Striker (and AHL and MegaTraveller by extension) is the degree to which it emphasizes tech level over character skill. If someone boards your ship wearing battledress, you're SOL. No way you'll have a weapon that can penetrate. Even more problematic, if your characters ever happen to get ahold of Battledress, they're invulnerable.

On the other hand, if you have a really strong character armed with a broadsword, using the Traveller/Snapshot rules you can take battledress out. Or a snub pistol with high dex. So long as you can find a way to get really close and ambush the bastard.

I don't debate the former is more "realistic", but I personally think the second is more fun. That's just my personal opinion; I know others prefer the realism of the Striker system and I totally respect that. So the following is only directed toward you if you agree with that basic premise.

Here's the problem. There are situations that can't be resolved using only book 1/4 combat. What happens when you need to take out that APC? Or when you're in an APC? Or when you're working on a mercenary ticket and want something more involved than the book 4 abstract combat system?

In those situations I'd use Striker as a full-on substitute for the book 1/4 rules. But I would still use Book 1/4/Snapshot for character-level tactical combat.

However, on these boards I recently found a .pdf of a set of rules for vehicle combat that were written to adapt Striker to book 1/4/snapshot. I think they were authored by Piper. They look extremely interesting, though I've only skimmed them.

 

[SgtHulka]

The basic problem I have with Striker (and AHL and MegaTraveller by extension) is the degree to which it emphasizes tech level over character skill. If someone boards your ship wearing battledress, you're SOL. No way you'll have a weapon that can penetrate. Even more problematic, if your characters ever happen to get ahold of Battledress, they're invulnerable.

On the other hand, if you have a really strong character armed with a broadsword, using the Traveller/Snapshot rules you can take battledress out. Or a snub pistol with high dex. So long as you can find a way to get really close and ambush the bastard.

I don't debate the former is more "realistic", but I personally think the second is more fun. That's just my personal opinion; I know others prefer the realism of the Striker system and I totally respect that. So the following is only directed toward you if you agree with that basic premise.

Here's the problem. There are situations that can't be resolved using only book 1/4 combat. What happens when you need to take out that APC? Or when you're in an APC? Or when you're working on a mercenary ticket and want something more involved than the book 4 abstract combat system?

In those situations I'd use Striker as a full-on substitute for the book 1/4 rules. But I would still use Book 1/4/Snapshot for character-level tactical combat.

However, on these boards I recently found a .pdf of a set of rules for vehicle combat that were written to adapt Striker to book 1/4/snapshot. I think they were authored by Piper. They look extremely interesting, though I've only skimmed them.

 

[Berg]

In the article it does mention using Bk1/Snapshot for close and short range DM's, as it says Striker's are slightly unrealistic since it's designed for larger scale combat.

This may solve the dilemma...

 

[Berg]

In the article it does mention using Bk1/Snapshot for close and short range DM's, as it says Striker's are slightly unrealistic since it's designed for larger scale combat.

This may solve the dilemma...

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by SgtHulka:
... However, on these boards I recently found a .pdf of a set of rules for vehicle combat that were written to adapt Striker to book 1/4/snapshot. I think they were authored by Piper.

Link

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by SgtHulka:
... However, on these boards I recently found a .pdf of a set of rules for vehicle combat that were written to adapt Striker to book 1/4/snapshot. I think they were authored by Piper.

Link

 

[Hyphen]

Dear Folks -

You can also steal stuff from my Weapons Tables if you're interested (since MT was really just intended to be Bk2 + Bk 4 + Striker).

You'll also need the Unified Range Table.

 

[Hyphen]

Dear Folks -

You can also steal stuff from my Weapons Tables if you're interested (since MT was really just intended to be Bk2 + Bk 4 + Striker).

You'll also need the Unified Range Table.

 

[SgtHulka]

I've started messing around with Striker and Azhanti High Lightning, and one of the things that bothered me about them was that Endurace becomes a bit of a "dump" stat. Action Points are set in AHL (6 per phase) so it doesn't help that, and wounds are set (Light, Serious, Dead) so it doesn't even help hit points. However, I think I've found a potential work-around.

LBB 1 describes Endurance as sort of half-physical half-mental. It is a combination of physical endurance and "will power". This is further reinforced by its position as third in the UPP, bridging the gap between physical and mental stats, and its use in Snapshot to help determine Action Points. Emphasizing the "willpower" and "action point" aspect of Endurance, I don't think it's a far stretch of the imagination to consider it at least a partial measure of a character's "coolness under fire", to borrow a Twilight 2000 term.

In Mercenary, Striker and Azhanti High Lightning, a character's morale is determined by adding its experience to the roll of a single die. I propose, instead, to determine morale by adding experience to 1/2 the character's endurance, rounding down. Doing this provides exactly the same range of morale as adding a single random die roll would do. Furthermore, as a character carries too much stuff, his or her endurance goes down. So does his or her morale. That makes sense to me. And if she has an odd endurance, she can be "overburdened" and yet not lose any morale, so odd numbers aren't autmoatically worthless.

The only thing you lose with this system is the fact that morale is quantifiable and measurable by the recruiter. Whereas in the old system you hired your recruits, organized them into teams and squads, and then your referee rolled morale for you, so you couldn't mini-max your squads. Depending on your campaign, that could be a problem.

A second problem I have with AHL/Striker that I already mentioned is the trouble actually hurting anyone wearing high-tech armor. I don't have a full work-around for this, but I have a partial one. In both systems, when a character is under cover and is hit anyway, that character takes +2 to the wound die roll, to indicate that his or her more vulnerable bits are the things poking out of the cover. In a bizarre twist of gamism, that means that if you're wearing combat armor and fighting against low-tech weaponry, you're better off standing out in the open than under cover. Because you'll be invulnerable unless someone gets off a lucky shot to your faceplate, which is only possible if you're under cover.

So I would propose allowing "called shots". A called shot treats the target as being under cover, even if he or she isn't. You automatically take a -2 DM to hit and if you hit you cause a +2 DM to the wound roll. This makes skill a little bit more important, and it avoids the silliness of combat armored troops avoiding cover like the plague.

 

[SgtHulka]

I've started messing around with Striker and Azhanti High Lightning, and one of the things that bothered me about them was that Endurace becomes a bit of a "dump" stat. Action Points are set in AHL (6 per phase) so it doesn't help that, and wounds are set (Light, Serious, Dead) so it doesn't even help hit points. However, I think I've found a potential work-around.

LBB 1 describes Endurance as sort of half-physical half-mental. It is a combination of physical endurance and "will power". This is further reinforced by its position as third in the UPP, bridging the gap between physical and mental stats, and its use in Snapshot to help determine Action Points. Emphasizing the "willpower" and "action point" aspect of Endurance, I don't think it's a far stretch of the imagination to consider it at least a partial measure of a character's "coolness under fire", to borrow a Twilight 2000 term.

In Mercenary, Striker and Azhanti High Lightning, a character's morale is determined by adding its experience to the roll of a single die. I propose, instead, to determine morale by adding experience to 1/2 the character's endurance, rounding down. Doing this provides exactly the same range of morale as adding a single random die roll would do. Furthermore, as a character carries too much stuff, his or her endurance goes down. So does his or her morale. That makes sense to me. And if she has an odd endurance, she can be "overburdened" and yet not lose any morale, so odd numbers aren't autmoatically worthless.

The only thing you lose with this system is the fact that morale is quantifiable and measurable by the recruiter. Whereas in the old system you hired your recruits, organized them into teams and squads, and then your referee rolled morale for you, so you couldn't mini-max your squads. Depending on your campaign, that could be a problem.

A second problem I have with AHL/Striker that I already mentioned is the trouble actually hurting anyone wearing high-tech armor. I don't have a full work-around for this, but I have a partial one. In both systems, when a character is under cover and is hit anyway, that character takes +2 to the wound die roll, to indicate that his or her more vulnerable bits are the things poking out of the cover. In a bizarre twist of gamism, that means that if you're wearing combat armor and fighting against low-tech weaponry, you're better off standing out in the open than under cover. Because you'll be invulnerable unless someone gets off a lucky shot to your faceplate, which is only possible if you're under cover.

So I would propose allowing "called shots". A called shot treats the target as being under cover, even if he or she isn't. You automatically take a -2 DM to hit and if you hit you cause a +2 DM to the wound roll. This makes skill a little bit more important, and it avoids the silliness of combat armored troops avoiding cover like the plague.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by SgtHulka:
I've started messing around with Striker and Azhanti High Lightning, and one of the things that bothered me about them was that Endurace becomes a bit of a "dump" stat.

Under my combat rules, END is used for checks to see if a character is knocked unconscious or stunned.

Under my CT rules, it's not automatic to be knocked unconscious for 10 minutes if a single stat goes to zero. The character gets a 2D for END or less check. If successful, the zeroed stat is raised to 1, and the combat effect is that the character is stunned for 1 round (rather than being automatically knocked unconsious).

If the misses the END check, then he is knocked unconscious.

Players want to keep their STR up because of he encumbrance rule (have to start dropping equipment if they're weak!), and it's important to Brawling combat for obvious reasons.

Players want to keep their DEX up for Gun Combat.

And, now, players want to keep their END up so that they are less likely to get knocked unconcious.

-S4

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by SgtHulka:
I've started messing around with Striker and Azhanti High Lightning, and one of the things that bothered me about them was that Endurace becomes a bit of a "dump" stat.

Under my combat rules, END is used for checks to see if a character is knocked unconscious or stunned.

Under my CT rules, it's not automatic to be knocked unconscious for 10 minutes if a single stat goes to zero. The character gets a 2D for END or less check. If successful, the zeroed stat is raised to 1, and the combat effect is that the character is stunned for 1 round (rather than being automatically knocked unconsious).

If the misses the END check, then he is knocked unconscious.

Players want to keep their STR up because of he encumbrance rule (have to start dropping equipment if they're weak!), and it's important to Brawling combat for obvious reasons.

Players want to keep their DEX up for Gun Combat.

And, now, players want to keep their END up so that they are less likely to get knocked unconcious.

-S4

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by SgtHulka:
In Mercenary, Striker and Azhanti High Lightning, a character's morale is determined by adding its experience to the roll of a single die.

To be exact...

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Civilian Character Morale = 1D +Tactics Skill
Military Character Morale = 1D +Tactics Skill +1 +number of Terms</pre>[/QUOTE]I use this for initiative in my CT Rules.

-S4

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by SgtHulka:
In Mercenary, Striker and Azhanti High Lightning, a character's morale is determined by adding its experience to the roll of a single die.

To be exact...

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Civilian Character Morale = 1D +Tactics Skill
Military Character Morale = 1D +Tactics Skill +1 +number of Terms</pre>[/QUOTE]I use this for initiative in my CT Rules.

-S4