A revised d666 combat system

Jason · 01-10-2011, 11:45 AM

I'm looking to do combat differently for my group. I was afraid I might derail the In Nomine Second Edition thread with too much talk about what I want over what players think might be good, so consider this a specialized house rules thread. (And actually, this older house rules thread has some useful discussion about combat that is relevant.)

The combat system as written (or, at least as it plays out in every group I've run) makes fights take longer than I'd prefer, and forces me as the GM to create more selectively merciful NPCs than I imagine to be realistic. A single hit from even my weak bad guys is enough to stun most of my PCs, but not enough to pose much of a threat to our 50+ hit tank. This results in a slog-fest to take down anybody with a lot of Body Hits (like the 36-hit demon guards I just threw at my PCs, or one of my own PCs with over 50 hits), a quick would-be massacre to take down characters with very few Body Hits (like most of my other PCs), and NPCs who stop trying to kill a stunned character out of GM mercy.

As I see it, the issue with this isn't that "it's easier to kill characters with fewer Hits" (which is precisely what you should expect), but that such a broad range of hits exists at all. It's really hard to throw enemies at the PCs that will pose a moderate threat to everyone, rather than a lethal threat to some and no threat at all to others.

As it is, I also find there to be too many stats and modifiers to keep track of during a given fight. (As you see in my most recent post in the Second Edition thread, I prefer not to have to keep track of punch damage, for instance, as a function of a -3 punch damage modifier, a superhuman strength modifier, and a bonus to check digit from the target number exceeding 12, which in turn only results from adding corporeal forces to the target number, which only happens for some kinds of attacks and not others).

Ideally, then, what I'd like to do is:

Make vessel level more crucial to durability than Strength
Tighten the range of Body Hits that characters might have
Make weapons do reasonable damage in relation to each other
Involve fewer stats and modifiers, not more, if possible

I realize I'm phrasing this very specifically in terms of what I need for my own group. I'm posting it here, though, because I figure others might have similar thoughts (or even just useful advice). Even if nobody else responds, I hope you don't mind if I reply to my own post, and/or send my own players here to respond instead of coordinating with them via email.

01-10-2011, 11:45 AM	#1
Jason Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Boston, MA	A revised d666 combat system I'm looking to do combat differently for my group. I was afraid I might derail the In Nomine Second Edition thread with too much talk about what I want over what players think might be good, so consider this a specialized house rules thread. (And actually, this older house rules thread has some useful discussion about combat that is relevant.) The combat system as written (or, at least as it plays out in every group I've run) makes fights take longer than I'd prefer, and forces me as the GM to create more selectively merciful NPCs than I imagine to be realistic. A single hit from even my weak bad guys is enough to stun most of my PCs, but not enough to pose much of a threat to our 50+ hit tank. This results in a slog-fest to take down anybody with a lot of Body Hits (like the 36-hit demon guards I just threw at my PCs, or one of my own PCs with over 50 hits), a quick would-be massacre to take down characters with very few Body Hits (like most of my other PCs), and NPCs who stop trying to kill a stunned character out of GM mercy. As I see it, the issue with this isn't that "it's easier to kill characters with fewer Hits" (which is precisely what you should expect), but that such a broad range of hits exists at all. It's really hard to throw enemies at the PCs that will pose a moderate threat to everyone, rather than a lethal threat to some and no threat at all to others. As it is, I also find there to be too many stats and modifiers to keep track of during a given fight. (As you see in my most recent post in the Second Edition thread, I prefer not to have to keep track of punch damage, for instance, as a function of a -3 punch damage modifier, a superhuman strength modifier, and a bonus to check digit from the target number exceeding 12, which in turn only results from adding corporeal forces to the target number, which only happens for some kinds of attacks and not others). Ideally, then, what I'd like to do is: Make vessel level more crucial to durability than Strength Tighten the range of Body Hits that characters might have Make weapons do reasonable damage in relation to each other Involve fewer stats and modifiers, not more, if possible I realize I'm phrasing this very specifically in terms of what I need for my own group. I'm posting it here, though, because I figure others might have similar thoughts (or even just useful advice). Even if nobody else responds, I hope you don't mind if I reply to my own post, and/or send my own players here to respond instead of coordinating with them via email.