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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
In Search of Flexible Defense Mechanics
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9250297" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>In Rolemaster, at the start of each round, any PC in melee must assign some portion of their weapon skill bonus to attack (Offensive Bonus, or OB) and some of that same bonus to parrying (Defensive Bonus, or DB). Generally parry DB only applies against one opponent.</p><p></p><p>In Burning Wheel's Fight! sub-system, each character/creature has a number of action determined by their Reflex attribute (generally 3 to 5, though fewer or more are both possibilities for some outliers). At the top of each "exchange", each combatant has to script 3 "vollyes". Each volley has actions allocated to it, so that (i) the total number of actions in an exchange equals Reflex, and (ii) the actions are spread as evenly as possible over the volleys (so eg Reflex 3 means 1 action per volley; Reflex 5 means two volleys will have two actions, and one will have one).</p><p></p><p>Once scripting is done, volleys are revealed one at a time, with action resolved simultaneously and in sequence.</p><p></p><p>The basic attack action is Strike. How it resolves depends on what (if anything) is scripted against it. Eg if Block is scripted, then opposed rolls are made. If Avoid is scripted then, opposed rolls are also made but the defender (to use D&D jargon) rolls on DEX rather than weapon skill. If Counter-strike is scripted, then the weapon pool must be split, with some used on defence similar to a Block, and some used on attack similar to a Strike. There are other options, such as Feint which automatically fizzles against a Strike but automatically cuts through a Counter-strike. Different weapons also have attributes that include how frequently, in an exchange, they can be used to Strike (this is the system's equivalent of weapon speed).</p><p></p><p>If a Strike succeeds, armour gives a separate pool of dice to roll to negate the (threatened) injury. Some weapons step up the difficulty of this armour test.</p><p></p><p>Obviously it's a fairly intricate system, and it doesn't need to be used for every physical altercation. But when it is used, it does generate variation and surprise, and a skilled player can do better than their raw stats would suggest by dint of clever scripting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 9250297, member: 42582"] In Rolemaster, at the start of each round, any PC in melee must assign some portion of their weapon skill bonus to attack (Offensive Bonus, or OB) and some of that same bonus to parrying (Defensive Bonus, or DB). Generally parry DB only applies against one opponent. In Burning Wheel's Fight! sub-system, each character/creature has a number of action determined by their Reflex attribute (generally 3 to 5, though fewer or more are both possibilities for some outliers). At the top of each "exchange", each combatant has to script 3 "vollyes". Each volley has actions allocated to it, so that (i) the total number of actions in an exchange equals Reflex, and (ii) the actions are spread as evenly as possible over the volleys (so eg Reflex 3 means 1 action per volley; Reflex 5 means two volleys will have two actions, and one will have one). Once scripting is done, volleys are revealed one at a time, with action resolved simultaneously and in sequence. The basic attack action is Strike. How it resolves depends on what (if anything) is scripted against it. Eg if Block is scripted, then opposed rolls are made. If Avoid is scripted then, opposed rolls are also made but the defender (to use D&D jargon) rolls on DEX rather than weapon skill. If Counter-strike is scripted, then the weapon pool must be split, with some used on defence similar to a Block, and some used on attack similar to a Strike. There are other options, such as Feint which automatically fizzles against a Strike but automatically cuts through a Counter-strike. Different weapons also have attributes that include how frequently, in an exchange, they can be used to Strike (this is the system's equivalent of weapon speed). If a Strike succeeds, armour gives a separate pool of dice to roll to negate the (threatened) injury. Some weapons step up the difficulty of this armour test. Obviously it's a fairly intricate system, and it doesn't need to be used for every physical altercation. But when it is used, it does generate variation and surprise, and a skilled player can do better than their raw stats would suggest by dint of clever scripting. [/QUOTE]
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