Maerdwyn
First Post
In my view we have a group of three to three-and-a-half combat oriented members and three to two-and-a-half non-combat oriented characters, and we were facing a group of six combat-oriented opponents. Hence the attempt to parley, and avoid violent conflict altogether.
I guess my (our?) thought with the guns, is that they were a negotiating tool, meant to end the conflict before it started. If THI felt that we had them at a disadvantage (or at least you felt we had THI at a disadventage) why wouldn't they try to parley some when being covered by two guns and being offered the chance to parley, rather than instantly attack in the face of those guns?
It's the same sort of thing going on with Sonny right now - he's covering three team members with guns, and telling them not to move. Does the fact that he's drawn the guns mean that he is DEFINITELY going to use them, or that he WILL use them IF we step out of line? With Jasper and Johann - did the fact that they drew their guns mean that they WERE definitely going to use them, no matter what THI did or didn't do, or was it a threat that they would use them only if THI jumped them with knives, brass knuckles, etc?
My only other frustrations are minor, rules issues, which can be ignored if you wish (I generally hate rules lawyering, so I'll definitely understand).
First - How did Sonny Bums Rush two of our team members of at the same time (and do so successfully without - at least apparently - opposed strength checks or the victims getting a chance for an extra free attack on him as he did it?)
Second, I hadn't seen the passage about threatened space in d20COC, but have now. FYI, Threatened spaces makes up 99.9% of the complication of Attacks of Opportunity. Without maps it's hard to visualiz exactly where characters are in relation to each other, walls, tables, etc., so it's hard to know exactly what actions are posible for a character. It can be done by asking question prior to movement, of course, but this can slow the game down. If we are going to use them, which seems fine, I think we need some more verbose descriptions of the combat areas and/or a map. Additionally, if using threatened areas, expanding that to include using Attacks of Opportunity just isn't that big a deal - there is very little added complexity, rules-wise, and quite a bit of added complexity tactic-wise (which is a good thing) .
EDIT: Responses to a couple of your earlier points:
1) Table talk would be fine with me - It had just never entered my mind before as it had never been allowed for me before
2) No problem with Tim's cane doing real damage - it should IMHO. I was just pointing out that while Tim could do up to 5 (or more) points of real damage to Jibril, while attacking with a positive modifier, Jibril could only do 1d3-1 points of subdual damage to him, all while attacking at -1 to hit. Going toe-to-toe, in Jibril's mind, was not an option.
I guess my (our?) thought with the guns, is that they were a negotiating tool, meant to end the conflict before it started. If THI felt that we had them at a disadvantage (or at least you felt we had THI at a disadventage) why wouldn't they try to parley some when being covered by two guns and being offered the chance to parley, rather than instantly attack in the face of those guns?
It's the same sort of thing going on with Sonny right now - he's covering three team members with guns, and telling them not to move. Does the fact that he's drawn the guns mean that he is DEFINITELY going to use them, or that he WILL use them IF we step out of line? With Jasper and Johann - did the fact that they drew their guns mean that they WERE definitely going to use them, no matter what THI did or didn't do, or was it a threat that they would use them only if THI jumped them with knives, brass knuckles, etc?
My only other frustrations are minor, rules issues, which can be ignored if you wish (I generally hate rules lawyering, so I'll definitely understand).

First - How did Sonny Bums Rush two of our team members of at the same time (and do so successfully without - at least apparently - opposed strength checks or the victims getting a chance for an extra free attack on him as he did it?)
Second, I hadn't seen the passage about threatened space in d20COC, but have now. FYI, Threatened spaces makes up 99.9% of the complication of Attacks of Opportunity. Without maps it's hard to visualiz exactly where characters are in relation to each other, walls, tables, etc., so it's hard to know exactly what actions are posible for a character. It can be done by asking question prior to movement, of course, but this can slow the game down. If we are going to use them, which seems fine, I think we need some more verbose descriptions of the combat areas and/or a map. Additionally, if using threatened areas, expanding that to include using Attacks of Opportunity just isn't that big a deal - there is very little added complexity, rules-wise, and quite a bit of added complexity tactic-wise (which is a good thing) .
EDIT: Responses to a couple of your earlier points:
1) Table talk would be fine with me - It had just never entered my mind before as it had never been allowed for me before
2) No problem with Tim's cane doing real damage - it should IMHO. I was just pointing out that while Tim could do up to 5 (or more) points of real damage to Jibril, while attacking with a positive modifier, Jibril could only do 1d3-1 points of subdual damage to him, all while attacking at -1 to hit. Going toe-to-toe, in Jibril's mind, was not an option.
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