Some players of Stargrave feel that the "all-or-nothing" approach to shooting and combat damage in Stargrave is too "swingy", as the defender may take massive (and often lethal) damage even if they only failed the opposed roll by one!
I have seen other suggested alternatives for this, the most common being a separate d20 roll (or even an opposed roll) for Damage. These are ineffective systems, as Armor becomes an insignificant factor and damage can still swing wildly, just without any sensible explanation.
If you feel that the method for determining damage in the rulebook is too deadly, I suggest this alternative.
DISCLAIMER: I personally do not have a problem with the existing method as my opinion is that combat should be deadly and things that cause combats (and thus the entire game) to go slower should be avoided. Also, with the rules for post-combat recovery, most of the time the character is only out of combat, not killed permanently.
This house rule has not been tested by me for the reasons stated above. The only guarantee I can offer is that it will slow down your games. Feel free to use or modify as you wish (it's your game after all!) but I accept no responsibility for your choice.
My opinion is that Margin Of Success is a very important factor in determining damage. In real combat, aim is everything. Lethality depends on precision more than any random factor. Any other random factors would be attributed to the opposed d20 rolls for the attack. So here is my thought:
(This may sound a bit complicated when you see it in writing, but (a) it's not really, and (b) this is for people who don't want to do it the easy way that we already have. So don't complain if "math is hard"... if you want a quick and simple method, go with the way that's already in the rulebook!)
To determine damage, subtract the final total of your opponent's Fight (defense) roll from the final total of your Shoot (attack) roll. This is the Margin of Success (MoS).
Total damage = 10 + MoS + Attacker's Shoot bonus + Weapon's Damage Modifier, minus opponent's Fight bonus and adjusted Armor value. Critical hits still add +5 to damage
Remember that modifiers such as cover, etc. are already reflected as adjustments to either the target's Fight bonus or the attacker's Shoot bonus rather than the d20 roll itself.
The minimum damage on a successful attack will always be at least 1, and the maximum damage can be no more that the unadjusted result of the attacker's d20 roll. *
* Yes, the Shoot and Fight were already factored into the d20 roll "to hit", but this is, after all, a house rule for those who think the "all-or-nothing" approach is too swingy, without making damage a totally random factor - and so they must also be factors in the separate calculation of total damage, regardless of the raw result of the d20 rolls.
EXAMPLE ONE:
A Gunner (Shoot +3, Damage +2) attacks a Runner (Fight +2, Armor 9). Both are stationary and in the open, so no other modifiers for movement or shooting have applied in this particular attack.
The Gunner rolls 19, the Runner rolls an 13. So the attacker's result to hit is 23, the defender's result is 15. Margin of success is 8 ... Though it was a good shot, the Runner has some luck going for him it seems!
Damage is 10 +8 (for the MoS) +3 (for Shoot) +2 (weapon's damage modifier) = 23 , -2 (Fight) -9 (armor) = 12
As 12 is less than the attacker's roll of 20, the damage of 12 will be subtracted from the Runner's health of 12 and he will still be killed (But he would have been killed anyways if the rulebook method was used).
EXAMPLE TWO:
A Commando (Shoot +3) with a Shotgun (Damage +1) attacks a First Mate who is wearing Heavy Armor. The First Mate is a Psionicist and his Fight score is +2. The shooter has moved and the defender is in Light Cover, so the First Mate gets a +3 bonus to his Fight score.
The Commando rolls 20, the First Mate rolls very poorly and gets a 2! So the attacker's result is 23 and the defender's result is 5. Margin of Success is 18.
Damage is 10 + 18 (MoS) + 3 (Shoot) + 1 (weapon damage) +5 (critical hit) = a whopping 37! Subtracting -5 (Fight) -11 (armor)= 21 damage, but this is capped at the attacker's actual dice roll of 20.
The First Mate is currently using the power Psychic Shield, so the damage is halved to 10.
This is less than the First Mate's current Health of 13 (she had lost two Health from the Strain to cast the Shield), so she is not killed outright, but has only 3 Health remaining and becomes Wounded!
MELEE COMBAT
The system would work in the same fashion in melee combat, with the exception that both combatants use their Fight score. If the results are tied, damage to each combatant is still calculated as above, but the Margin of Success is of course 0.
No comments:
Post a Comment