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<blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 6019568" data-attributes="member: 92305"><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><em><strong>For Example....</strong></em></span></p><p></p><p></p><p>After watching the clip from Centurion above, imagine a similar scene set in the Hyborian Age. For this example, we've got a lone Aquilonian 2nd level Soldier, on foot, walking down the gully pictured in the clip. Away in the forest, is a lone 1st level Pict warrior, tracking him. We can set this in the Westermark.</p><p></p><p>The Aquilonian makes a Listen check and stops to gaze up the slope into the forest. The Pict rises from his hiding spot and charges down the hill, screaming at the top of his lungs.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The Pict wins initiative.</p><p></p><p>That means the Soldier is flat footed.</p><p></p><p>The Charge results in the Pict getting an attack with a +2 bonus (it also means the Pict is -2 to his defense until his next action). The flat footed Aquilonian is AC 10.</p><p></p><p>The Pict is using a targe and primitive hunting spear. The Aquilonian uses a large shield and short sword, plus he wears a helm and scale corselet (DR 6).</p><p></p><p>The Pict easily hits but does no damage because his spear does not penetrate the Aquilonian's armor. In fact, the head of the spear snaps off when it makes contact (see page 152 under Primitive Weapons). </p><p></p><p>Now the Aquilonian is no longer flat footed. He strikes with his short sword and hits. The Pict wears no armor and takes the full brunt of the damage. 1d8 is rolled, resulting in a 2, plus 2 more for the Aquilonian's STR modifier. The Pict takes 4 points of damage, leaving him 7 points.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Round Two.</p><p></p><p>The Pict uses his 5' step to move back away from the Aquilonian, dropping both the broken spear and his shield as he does so. His fingers go to blood streaming down his chest from the Aquilonian's slash, then to his face. His fingertips trace three lines of blood from his chin, over his lips, and across his cheek. This is all done in a matter of seconds (and is, in fact, the Pict's standard action to Demoralize his foe).</p><p></p><p>The Pict gets a +1 modifier for his war paint. But, because of the situation, the Aquilonan gets a +2 cirumstance bonus on his resistance throw because he drew first blood and faces a pict that is weaponless.</p><p></p><p>Nevertheless, the Pict wins the toss, and the Soldier will be considered demoralized (-2 attack, -2 skill checks, -2 saves) for two rounds (using the Pathfinder version of the rule as I suggest above). </p><p></p><p>The Soldier steps up 5' and uses a Full Action to attack both with his shield and his shortsword. </p><p></p><p>If you attempt to Parry an armed foe without a weapon, you suffer a -4 penalty to your Parry AC. Therefore, the Pict is using his Dodge AC against the Aquilonian's swing.</p><p></p><p>The attack throw for the shortsword is poor. In fact, it's less than half the Pict's Dodge AC. This triggers the Dance Aside combat maneuver. Since this maneuver is an immediate action, the Pict is allowed a free action to move 5' in any direction he wants. He hops away from the shortsword swing, now 5' from the Aquilonian.</p><p></p><p>This maneuver might have just saved the Pict's life because now, the Soldier cannot connect with his shield bash. The Soldier did a Full Action when attacking with Two Weapons, and thus could only move 5' maximum. He cannot now move another 5' to follow the Pict and hit with his shield. Thus, the benefit of the Dance Aside maneuver.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's now Round Three, and the Soldier is still considered demoralized this round. </p><p></p><p>The Pict screams his head off, death shining in his eyes, and moves to grapple the Soldier.</p><p></p><p>Attempting a grapple like this means the Aquilonian gets an Attack of Opportunity on the Pict, which he uses, swings, and misses by one point. The round spent demoralizing the Soldier turned out to be well worth it.</p><p></p><p>Now, the grapple is resolved. The Pict rolls a STR check vs. the Aquilonian's Grapple AC. The Grapple AC is penalized by the -8 Armor Check Penalty. But, still, the Pict fails! He rolls a natural 1! As the the Pict is a player character, though (where as the Aquilonian is a GM controlled NPC), the Pict has 3 Fate Points. The player uses one now, using the Reroll option. The grapple check is made again...and the Pict is successful!</p><p></p><p>The two are now considered to be grappling!</p><p></p><p>Now, it's the Aquilonian's turn. The grappling rules maintain that only light weapons can be used while grappling. Most other main weapons would have to be dropped, but a short sword is considered a light weapon. Therefore, the Aquilonan can still use it, even while grappled.</p><p></p><p>And, let's not forget that the Aquilonian is still demoralized this round. That's a -2 penalty to hit. And, because the character is grappling, that's another -4 penalty to hit. But, the Pict cannot use either the Parry or Dodge defense while grappling, which means the Pict is AC 10. The Aquilonian shoves with his sword, but the -6 penalty is too much for him. He fails to damage the Pict.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>We're going into round 4 now--almost half a minute of combat being represented!</p><p></p><p>At this point, the two grappling characters are considered to be in the same square. The Aquilonian's armor and the penalties of grappling make it unlikely that the Pict will win this fight by drawing his dagger and slitting the Soldier's throat. It's a -4 penalty on the strike because of the grapple, and a Finesse attack would have to be used, meaning another -6 points to the attack roll. There is not way a 1st level Pict will overcome a -10 penalty unless he throws a natural 20--a perfect hit.</p><p></p><p>Instead, the Pict can ignore armor by using unarmed strikes and non-lethal damage. </p><p></p><p>With his left arm locked around the Soldier, the Pict begins slamming punches square into the Aquilonian's face. Smack. Smack. Smack. This is the only grapple attack without penalties.</p><p></p><p>The Pict rolls his attack (the grapple attack is used, not the standard attack) and lucks out with a 20! Then, maximum damage is thrown! The Wolf God is pleased with this Pict! The Soldier suffers 6 points of non-lethal damage, while his hit points remain at his max of 13.</p><p></p><p>On the Soldier's turn (no longer suffering from being demoralized), he drops the shield, which lowers his Armor Check Penalty by half to -4 and attempts to escape from the grapple. This is an Escape Artist check, or a Grapple check, vs. the Pict's Grapple AC.</p><p></p><p>The armor check penalty on the check is -4 because he is not longer encumbered with his shield. Still, it's enough to make the character fail and allow the Pict to maintain his grip.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Round 5. 30 second of combat.</p><p></p><p>The Pict keeps pounding the Soldier in the face, his knuckles red with blood now. He's just holding the Aquilonian by his armor, bracing the man's weapon arm, slamming his fist straight into the Soldier's face.</p><p></p><p>The Pict hits again, this time doing 2 more points of non-lethal damage, for a total of 8 points vs. 13 HP.</p><p></p><p>The Aquilonian struggles with his short sword, against the -4 attack penalty for the grapple, and shoves it again at the Pict's gut. He's getting the crap knocked out of him, and he's got to kill this savage. He hits, doing a total of 5 points of damage.</p><p></p><p>The Pict now only has 2 HP left.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Round 6.</p><p></p><p>The Pict moves to catch his opponent in a hold, suppressing his weapon arm. The two are standing, moving around, locked in a grapple, when the Pict attempts to move behind the Soldier.</p><p></p><p>This is a Pin maneuver. And it requires a Grapple check vs. the Aquilonian's Grapple AC.</p><p></p><p>The Pict wins, and the Aquilonian is held.</p><p></p><p>The Aquilonian attempts to break the pin but is unsuccessful.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Round 7.</p><p></p><p>With the Soldier pinned in the Pict's grip, the Pict graps the Aquilonian's weapon arm several times and slams it accross his knee, then, with wrestles to grab the hild out of the Soldier's hand. This is a Disarm action, modified by the grapple rules. This gives the Aquilonian an Attack of Opportunity, and knowing this, the Pict player decides to spend another Fate Point. This time, it allows him to Dodge or Parry, with a +5 bonus modifier, even in circumstance where he cannot normally Dodge or Parry (such as when grappling).</p><p></p><p>The Soldier gets his AoO and attempts to shove his sword down into the Pict's thigh. He easily misses this due to the Pict's Dodge.</p><p></p><p>Now, the Pict attempts the Disarm, which the Pict wins. By the Disarm rules, the short sword is now in the Pict's Hands.</p><p></p><p>On the Soldier's turn, he attempts to break the pin again, but with those Fate Point modifiers, it proves impossible.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Round 8.</p><p></p><p>With the Soldier pinned, he's got an effect DEX 0, which means he's AC 5. So, even with the armor, the Pict needs to roll an 11+ in order to damage the Soldier with the short sword. The Finesse hit is a success! And, the Pict shoves the short sword in between the panels of the Soldier's armor under his arm, into his ribs.</p><p></p><p>Damage is 6 points. The Soldier's HP total drops from 13 to 7. And, his non-lethal damage is 8.</p><p></p><p>The Soldier collapses back on the Pict at this moment. He's not dead, just exhausted. And beat. And about to die at the hands of this Pict.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>We're out of rounds now, into scenes. It will take about half an hour for the Soldier to rouse himself, but he hasn't got an hour. The Pict uses the tip of the short sword to slice the straps holding the Aquilonian's helmet, then throws the thing down the gully. Next, fresh blood runs down the Soldier's face, and he begins to scream, in spite of his condition. The Pict removes his scalp. Then the Pict simply holds the short sword high, in a reverse grip, and slams the point down into the Aquilonian's throat, stapling him to the ground.</p><p></p><p>And with that, he lifts his war cry to the heavens. Another invader taught the cold, harsh lesson of the Pictish frontier.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Are your fights like this? Do you use this game to its fullest? Or do you just go back and forth with the opponents trading swipes at each other.</p><p></p><p>If you, as GM, start using all the special attacks and maneuvers that this game offers, I bet your players will see the advantage and start doing it, too.</p><p></p><p>With the above, you saw how a 1st level Pict PC with primitive weapons could take out a heavily armored 2nd level Soldier. Of course, I wrote this as an example. More likely, the fight would be shorter than what I wrote above (I wanted to highlight various combat techniques). The point is, the Conan RPG gives you all the tools you need to live through very exciting combats.</p><p></p><p>You've just got to spend some time learning the options.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Water Bob, post: 6019568, member: 92305"] [COLOR=#0000ff][I][B]For Example....[/B][/I][/COLOR] After watching the clip from Centurion above, imagine a similar scene set in the Hyborian Age. For this example, we've got a lone Aquilonian 2nd level Soldier, on foot, walking down the gully pictured in the clip. Away in the forest, is a lone 1st level Pict warrior, tracking him. We can set this in the Westermark. The Aquilonian makes a Listen check and stops to gaze up the slope into the forest. The Pict rises from his hiding spot and charges down the hill, screaming at the top of his lungs. The Pict wins initiative. That means the Soldier is flat footed. The Charge results in the Pict getting an attack with a +2 bonus (it also means the Pict is -2 to his defense until his next action). The flat footed Aquilonian is AC 10. The Pict is using a targe and primitive hunting spear. The Aquilonian uses a large shield and short sword, plus he wears a helm and scale corselet (DR 6). The Pict easily hits but does no damage because his spear does not penetrate the Aquilonian's armor. In fact, the head of the spear snaps off when it makes contact (see page 152 under Primitive Weapons). Now the Aquilonian is no longer flat footed. He strikes with his short sword and hits. The Pict wears no armor and takes the full brunt of the damage. 1d8 is rolled, resulting in a 2, plus 2 more for the Aquilonian's STR modifier. The Pict takes 4 points of damage, leaving him 7 points. Round Two. The Pict uses his 5' step to move back away from the Aquilonian, dropping both the broken spear and his shield as he does so. His fingers go to blood streaming down his chest from the Aquilonian's slash, then to his face. His fingertips trace three lines of blood from his chin, over his lips, and across his cheek. This is all done in a matter of seconds (and is, in fact, the Pict's standard action to Demoralize his foe). The Pict gets a +1 modifier for his war paint. But, because of the situation, the Aquilonan gets a +2 cirumstance bonus on his resistance throw because he drew first blood and faces a pict that is weaponless. Nevertheless, the Pict wins the toss, and the Soldier will be considered demoralized (-2 attack, -2 skill checks, -2 saves) for two rounds (using the Pathfinder version of the rule as I suggest above). The Soldier steps up 5' and uses a Full Action to attack both with his shield and his shortsword. If you attempt to Parry an armed foe without a weapon, you suffer a -4 penalty to your Parry AC. Therefore, the Pict is using his Dodge AC against the Aquilonian's swing. The attack throw for the shortsword is poor. In fact, it's less than half the Pict's Dodge AC. This triggers the Dance Aside combat maneuver. Since this maneuver is an immediate action, the Pict is allowed a free action to move 5' in any direction he wants. He hops away from the shortsword swing, now 5' from the Aquilonian. This maneuver might have just saved the Pict's life because now, the Soldier cannot connect with his shield bash. The Soldier did a Full Action when attacking with Two Weapons, and thus could only move 5' maximum. He cannot now move another 5' to follow the Pict and hit with his shield. Thus, the benefit of the Dance Aside maneuver. It's now Round Three, and the Soldier is still considered demoralized this round. The Pict screams his head off, death shining in his eyes, and moves to grapple the Soldier. Attempting a grapple like this means the Aquilonian gets an Attack of Opportunity on the Pict, which he uses, swings, and misses by one point. The round spent demoralizing the Soldier turned out to be well worth it. Now, the grapple is resolved. The Pict rolls a STR check vs. the Aquilonian's Grapple AC. The Grapple AC is penalized by the -8 Armor Check Penalty. But, still, the Pict fails! He rolls a natural 1! As the the Pict is a player character, though (where as the Aquilonian is a GM controlled NPC), the Pict has 3 Fate Points. The player uses one now, using the Reroll option. The grapple check is made again...and the Pict is successful! The two are now considered to be grappling! Now, it's the Aquilonian's turn. The grappling rules maintain that only light weapons can be used while grappling. Most other main weapons would have to be dropped, but a short sword is considered a light weapon. Therefore, the Aquilonan can still use it, even while grappled. And, let's not forget that the Aquilonian is still demoralized this round. That's a -2 penalty to hit. And, because the character is grappling, that's another -4 penalty to hit. But, the Pict cannot use either the Parry or Dodge defense while grappling, which means the Pict is AC 10. The Aquilonian shoves with his sword, but the -6 penalty is too much for him. He fails to damage the Pict. We're going into round 4 now--almost half a minute of combat being represented! At this point, the two grappling characters are considered to be in the same square. The Aquilonian's armor and the penalties of grappling make it unlikely that the Pict will win this fight by drawing his dagger and slitting the Soldier's throat. It's a -4 penalty on the strike because of the grapple, and a Finesse attack would have to be used, meaning another -6 points to the attack roll. There is not way a 1st level Pict will overcome a -10 penalty unless he throws a natural 20--a perfect hit. Instead, the Pict can ignore armor by using unarmed strikes and non-lethal damage. With his left arm locked around the Soldier, the Pict begins slamming punches square into the Aquilonian's face. Smack. Smack. Smack. This is the only grapple attack without penalties. The Pict rolls his attack (the grapple attack is used, not the standard attack) and lucks out with a 20! Then, maximum damage is thrown! The Wolf God is pleased with this Pict! The Soldier suffers 6 points of non-lethal damage, while his hit points remain at his max of 13. On the Soldier's turn (no longer suffering from being demoralized), he drops the shield, which lowers his Armor Check Penalty by half to -4 and attempts to escape from the grapple. This is an Escape Artist check, or a Grapple check, vs. the Pict's Grapple AC. The armor check penalty on the check is -4 because he is not longer encumbered with his shield. Still, it's enough to make the character fail and allow the Pict to maintain his grip. Round 5. 30 second of combat. The Pict keeps pounding the Soldier in the face, his knuckles red with blood now. He's just holding the Aquilonian by his armor, bracing the man's weapon arm, slamming his fist straight into the Soldier's face. The Pict hits again, this time doing 2 more points of non-lethal damage, for a total of 8 points vs. 13 HP. The Aquilonian struggles with his short sword, against the -4 attack penalty for the grapple, and shoves it again at the Pict's gut. He's getting the crap knocked out of him, and he's got to kill this savage. He hits, doing a total of 5 points of damage. The Pict now only has 2 HP left. Round 6. The Pict moves to catch his opponent in a hold, suppressing his weapon arm. The two are standing, moving around, locked in a grapple, when the Pict attempts to move behind the Soldier. This is a Pin maneuver. And it requires a Grapple check vs. the Aquilonian's Grapple AC. The Pict wins, and the Aquilonian is held. The Aquilonian attempts to break the pin but is unsuccessful. Round 7. With the Soldier pinned in the Pict's grip, the Pict graps the Aquilonian's weapon arm several times and slams it accross his knee, then, with wrestles to grab the hild out of the Soldier's hand. This is a Disarm action, modified by the grapple rules. This gives the Aquilonian an Attack of Opportunity, and knowing this, the Pict player decides to spend another Fate Point. This time, it allows him to Dodge or Parry, with a +5 bonus modifier, even in circumstance where he cannot normally Dodge or Parry (such as when grappling). The Soldier gets his AoO and attempts to shove his sword down into the Pict's thigh. He easily misses this due to the Pict's Dodge. Now, the Pict attempts the Disarm, which the Pict wins. By the Disarm rules, the short sword is now in the Pict's Hands. On the Soldier's turn, he attempts to break the pin again, but with those Fate Point modifiers, it proves impossible. Round 8. With the Soldier pinned, he's got an effect DEX 0, which means he's AC 5. So, even with the armor, the Pict needs to roll an 11+ in order to damage the Soldier with the short sword. The Finesse hit is a success! And, the Pict shoves the short sword in between the panels of the Soldier's armor under his arm, into his ribs. Damage is 6 points. The Soldier's HP total drops from 13 to 7. And, his non-lethal damage is 8. The Soldier collapses back on the Pict at this moment. He's not dead, just exhausted. And beat. And about to die at the hands of this Pict. We're out of rounds now, into scenes. It will take about half an hour for the Soldier to rouse himself, but he hasn't got an hour. The Pict uses the tip of the short sword to slice the straps holding the Aquilonian's helmet, then throws the thing down the gully. Next, fresh blood runs down the Soldier's face, and he begins to scream, in spite of his condition. The Pict removes his scalp. Then the Pict simply holds the short sword high, in a reverse grip, and slams the point down into the Aquilonian's throat, stapling him to the ground. And with that, he lifts his war cry to the heavens. Another invader taught the cold, harsh lesson of the Pictish frontier. Are your fights like this? Do you use this game to its fullest? Or do you just go back and forth with the opponents trading swipes at each other. If you, as GM, start using all the special attacks and maneuvers that this game offers, I bet your players will see the advantage and start doing it, too. With the above, you saw how a 1st level Pict PC with primitive weapons could take out a heavily armored 2nd level Soldier. Of course, I wrote this as an example. More likely, the fight would be shorter than what I wrote above (I wanted to highlight various combat techniques). The point is, the Conan RPG gives you all the tools you need to live through very exciting combats. You've just got to spend some time learning the options. [/QUOTE]
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