Well, the d20 Modern equivalent thereof.
They're 2nd-level heroes, half of them corporate, half of them military, and they're exploring an island that has risen out of the ocean as a result of volcanic activity -- and which has the ruins of an ancient city at its peak. They keep getting attacked by what they think are automated defenses -- little iron balls on the ground that use some kind of force-projection technology to grow into Feathered Guards. The guards wear feathered armor, full helmets, and have no skin showing. They use either spears or swords, and have no ranged capability as far as the party can tell.
The FGs are either Str1/Tgh1 or Str1/Fst1 ordinaries -- Def18, Atk+3 for 1d8+2 or so, 12hp, Ref +1 (tgh) or +3 (fst). The spear-guys (tough) have reach, but only have a 20-foot movement rate.
Here's my problem. My second-level heroes were getting creamed, since they aren't all combat-optimized, and it was really "3 second-level heroes" against 4 2nd-level ordinaries. The group was having to leave the island after every fight to go get stitched up.
And then... the party requisitioned grenades. They did it legitimately, as "Obvious Application", and they requisitioned as many as they could (until they failed a check). The soldiers distributed them to everybody.
Now the combats are almost a joke. If I wanted to spring something on them, I could have it take place in some kind of hidden area or tight enclosed space, but out in the open (where they are most of the time), they can see the FGs coming -- and the words, "I ready an action to throw a grenade" have become commonplace. The throw doesn't always get all the guards, but it's really making those fights a lot easier.
The corporate team also requisitioned some corporate muscle (since the military team was all tied up). Based on a DC of 15+BAB, they requisitioned a team of 4 Str1/Tgh1 grunts to provide combat cover for the group.
My questions:
1) Am I doing anything wrong by letting them make requisition checks for grenades? Should 2nd-level military personnel have access to frag grenades?
2) Did I make it way too easy to get the grunts? I did want them to be accessible, but not exactly easy. The party ISN'T combat-optimized, and these FGs ARE combat-optimized -- so without grenades and backup, they were still likely in trouble.
3) Has anyone else run into issues like this (characters with an easy solution to an otherwise difficult problem)? How did you deal with it? Part of me thinks that I should be upping the ante -- forcing combats in other areas where grenades don't work, giving the FGs ranged weapons (which is tough, since they were designed as short-range force projections, and don't really have the ability to project bits of themselves at a distance).
I should note that combats are by no means completely a piece of cake now. The party still got some injuries last time they fought some of these guys, and that was when they were specifically laying a trap. The FGs came in charging, and the party had to let them get in relatively close before throwing grenades (they fired a few shots, too, but ain't nobody can hit Def18 with any reliability). As a result, one guy got speared for about half his HP, another guy got grazed, and one poor fellow was very lucky to roll a good save and low damage when the grenade-thrower accidentally lobbed the frag grenade in such a way that a PC was caught in the blast. This was all despite the fact that the party had cover, the FGs had to get through an obstacle course to get there, and that one of the FGs was down as a result of slipping on seaweed during his charge (failed balance check). So I don't think that I need to make them more dangerous.
I should ALSO note that these FGs are kind of like the serpent guards in Stargate. The PCs encountered them when they were first level, and nearly got slaughtered (originally, each player had a Corp PC and a Military PC -- we were up-front about the fact that everyone was going to end up with only ONE PC, and that some of these PCs were going to go away via death). When the PCs are 10th level, they'll still be encountering these guys, and it should be a lot easier. I'm not planning this as a scaling-dungeon-style thing, where you meet goblins at first level and giants at 10th level while walking through the same dungeon. These guys are designed to be my melee grunts for awhile.
Thoughts? Not anything I'm thinking of as a deal-breaker, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something. Should I not let them requisition more than 1 box of grenades at a time? Should I make them requisition all the grenades at once, and just up the purchase DC?
Last note: The security grunts are paramilitary personnel. They've got pistols that do 2d6, shotguns that do 2d8, and a range of 30 in both cases. They didn't come with grenades -- they've only got Licensed equipment, not Restricted. So we don't have NPCs with Assault Rifles making the PCs completely irrelevent. The military PCs are using MP5s and Berettas, I think, which they requisitioned (as "necessary" for most people and "obvious application" for people like the medic, who doesn't absolutely need one).
They're 2nd-level heroes, half of them corporate, half of them military, and they're exploring an island that has risen out of the ocean as a result of volcanic activity -- and which has the ruins of an ancient city at its peak. They keep getting attacked by what they think are automated defenses -- little iron balls on the ground that use some kind of force-projection technology to grow into Feathered Guards. The guards wear feathered armor, full helmets, and have no skin showing. They use either spears or swords, and have no ranged capability as far as the party can tell.
The FGs are either Str1/Tgh1 or Str1/Fst1 ordinaries -- Def18, Atk+3 for 1d8+2 or so, 12hp, Ref +1 (tgh) or +3 (fst). The spear-guys (tough) have reach, but only have a 20-foot movement rate.
Here's my problem. My second-level heroes were getting creamed, since they aren't all combat-optimized, and it was really "3 second-level heroes" against 4 2nd-level ordinaries. The group was having to leave the island after every fight to go get stitched up.
And then... the party requisitioned grenades. They did it legitimately, as "Obvious Application", and they requisitioned as many as they could (until they failed a check). The soldiers distributed them to everybody.
Now the combats are almost a joke. If I wanted to spring something on them, I could have it take place in some kind of hidden area or tight enclosed space, but out in the open (where they are most of the time), they can see the FGs coming -- and the words, "I ready an action to throw a grenade" have become commonplace. The throw doesn't always get all the guards, but it's really making those fights a lot easier.
The corporate team also requisitioned some corporate muscle (since the military team was all tied up). Based on a DC of 15+BAB, they requisitioned a team of 4 Str1/Tgh1 grunts to provide combat cover for the group.
My questions:
1) Am I doing anything wrong by letting them make requisition checks for grenades? Should 2nd-level military personnel have access to frag grenades?
2) Did I make it way too easy to get the grunts? I did want them to be accessible, but not exactly easy. The party ISN'T combat-optimized, and these FGs ARE combat-optimized -- so without grenades and backup, they were still likely in trouble.
3) Has anyone else run into issues like this (characters with an easy solution to an otherwise difficult problem)? How did you deal with it? Part of me thinks that I should be upping the ante -- forcing combats in other areas where grenades don't work, giving the FGs ranged weapons (which is tough, since they were designed as short-range force projections, and don't really have the ability to project bits of themselves at a distance).
I should note that combats are by no means completely a piece of cake now. The party still got some injuries last time they fought some of these guys, and that was when they were specifically laying a trap. The FGs came in charging, and the party had to let them get in relatively close before throwing grenades (they fired a few shots, too, but ain't nobody can hit Def18 with any reliability). As a result, one guy got speared for about half his HP, another guy got grazed, and one poor fellow was very lucky to roll a good save and low damage when the grenade-thrower accidentally lobbed the frag grenade in such a way that a PC was caught in the blast. This was all despite the fact that the party had cover, the FGs had to get through an obstacle course to get there, and that one of the FGs was down as a result of slipping on seaweed during his charge (failed balance check). So I don't think that I need to make them more dangerous.
I should ALSO note that these FGs are kind of like the serpent guards in Stargate. The PCs encountered them when they were first level, and nearly got slaughtered (originally, each player had a Corp PC and a Military PC -- we were up-front about the fact that everyone was going to end up with only ONE PC, and that some of these PCs were going to go away via death). When the PCs are 10th level, they'll still be encountering these guys, and it should be a lot easier. I'm not planning this as a scaling-dungeon-style thing, where you meet goblins at first level and giants at 10th level while walking through the same dungeon. These guys are designed to be my melee grunts for awhile.
Thoughts? Not anything I'm thinking of as a deal-breaker, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something. Should I not let them requisition more than 1 box of grenades at a time? Should I make them requisition all the grenades at once, and just up the purchase DC?
Last note: The security grunts are paramilitary personnel. They've got pistols that do 2d6, shotguns that do 2d8, and a range of 30 in both cases. They didn't come with grenades -- they've only got Licensed equipment, not Restricted. So we don't have NPCs with Assault Rifles making the PCs completely irrelevent. The military PCs are using MP5s and Berettas, I think, which they requisitioned (as "necessary" for most people and "obvious application" for people like the medic, who doesn't absolutely need one).
