2000AD Minimum Dice pool when making a check

[Andrew Dixon]

Was running some new players through a combat last night and due to combination of range increments and Cover, they only had a 2 dice pool to hit a 14 Ranged Defense, they wanted to keep LUC for later in the fight so were obviously going to miss

Rules state that:
A character’s maximum dice pool cannot be reduced to lower than 3d6, no matter how low their grade, though an NPC’s or a monster’s dice pool can.

The question therefore is, is there a minimum dice pool?
Would their pool have been 3d6 rather than 2d6?

 

[Morrus]

Their maximum dice pool. Not their dice pool. A grade 5’s maximum dice pool is 5d6. It means a grade 2 character’s maximum dice pool is still 3d6, not 2d6.

 

[Andrew Dixon]

So a grade 5 character could have a very low pool after reductions due to range/position etc?

 

[Morrus]

Yes.

 

[1000buffalo]

Related, that's tough - PCs hitting a pool of 2d6 when shooting for Ranged Defenses of 14 (let alone 15+, where a good number of perps land. Heck, a vagrant has a 15 ...). Barring Luck, there's no chance of hitting unless something triggers a bonus or such.

If GMs see Players hitting those kind of pools repeatedly, I'd recommend pointing out options to consider: change position, find/create high ground, call for backup, or create some advantages through skill use or such.

Tough, thinking encounters are good, but Players who feel trapped into round after round of rolling dice pools that can't hit, with no options, are likely to grow dissatisfied with the rules.

 

[MacD]

Like russ said some threads ago... tactics change battles. If only one side uses them and the other side thinks it plays dnd (sorry guys), they will lose.

 

[1000buffalo]

Like russ said some threads ago... tactics change battles. If only one side uses them and the other side thinks it plays dnd (sorry guys), they will lose.

Well, totally fair. As a GM, especially if I'm promoting a game, letting the Players hit a low pool like that (which, as Morrus pointed out, should be pretty rare) and not at least coaching the Players a bit on options available, can kill a game. The fact that the Players didn't work better tactics doesn't much help if my group loses interest.

That said, I've had the equivalent of the situation come up for Savage Worlds and Zweihander in the recent past, and just helped the Players see the options available. They generally then cook up a solution, and in the future. Or learn to retreat, etc.

I just find a GM noting "no win approaches" and pointing it out can help Players "learn to fish" and engage more eagerly with the system. I'm not sure anyone was suggesting otherwise, so just babbling away a bit here.