Everyone get +4 for free against berserkers

[Mr Frost]

Originally Posted by MrKay

'Berserk', at least in the original Norse context (meaning roughly 'bear-shirt'), was an expression that could be extended to mean any fighting man with a reputation for being dangerous, particularly if he was a 'foreigner' or otherwise considered untrustworthy. A man didn't have to 'go berserk' in the modern understanding of the expression to be considered a berserker...

This is actually a good point .

As I see it , the disadvantage in question is fine except for the name ; it would have been better to look up the psychological name for such psychotic behaviour and use that .




For effective fighters in the fashion of historical Bersrkers or heroes of Irish myth {hound of Culann for example} and suchlike the name Beserk should be used for a suitable advantage that comes in two versions : Realistic and Cinematic .

The Realistic version might give when triggered +1 or 2 striking and lifting Str , +2 or 4 Will and a level or two of Hard to Subdue and possibly Hard to Kill {and each roll the Hard to Kill saves you must be re-rolled when the state "wears off"} along with the Temporary Disadvantages of Bloodlust and Callous . A bonus to Intimidation might fit in too . Include a Fatigue loss when the character comes out of the Berserk state {it is basically being able to boost adrenaline and suchlike which will drain the individual} and perhaps a HT roll to avoid a bit of damage {straining ligaments and muscle from pushing the body further than is normal} .

The Cinematic version could take some different form or it might simply be a Leveled Advantage with , say , 2 levels being the realistic maximum and the cinematic maximum would depend on the particular setting .


Mind you , this is just of the top of my head and I'm a bit tired so it probably needs serious tweaking , but there it is .

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I'd do it with a perk actually.

Berserk Defender
You may make Commited Attacks as well as All-out Attacks while Berserk.

I'd either make it a global, free change or allow it as reduced value version of bererker - much like Battle Fury in reverse, so it's -50%. 1 point seems too cheap for "I get 15 points of this limitation, and get rid of the main downside to it for 1 point." Committed Attack isn't really that limiting, especially not for guys who make a point of maxing out their Dodge. It's only a -2, which isn't really that bad (especially if you've got a shield to tack on the DB, or magic armor, or the Shield spell, or anything else with DB.)

It's one thing, to me, to change it for all berserkers all the time, and another to give an exception out too cheaply.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Mr Frost

This is actually a good point .

As I see it , the disadvantage in question is fine except for the name ; it would have been better to look up the psychological name for such psychotic behaviour and use that.

Already got one: On the Edge - roll self control every turn or do something near suicidal, of which All Out Attack is the recommended form. It's got some additional features bundled with it, but pretty close. Actually if you ignore the advantage components to Berserk, it's not so dissimilar to a combination of On the Edge (do crazy stuff each turn), Bloodlust (keep at a foe until he's dead), Loner (redefine nearby people as foes) and a kind of unreliable delayed Fragile (the roll again when you calm down to see if you die rule).

Admittedly removing all the benefits, calling it a -30* or -35* disadvantage, and making those benefits available as optional advantages with an Only When Berserk limitation would change the cost a lot, but isn't a ridiculous idea.

[Kromm]

I most often see these:

Originally Posted by Peter V. Dell'Orto

- attacking a foe that can't reach you.
- attacking when your allies can keep you safe from harm.

This as a combination: Somebody with a long melee weapon or even a ranged weapon and the skill to shoot past friends simply hangs back behind an impenetrable line of armed allies and attacks aggressively, leaving his pals to keep him safe.

Originally Posted by Peter V. Dell'Orto

- attacking a foe that can't hurt you.

Very, very common in high-powered fantasy. My wife's former PC, Leif, was this giagantic barbarian who had enough armor DR to bounce maximum damage from any normal human with any reasonable weapon. This dude was built to fight giants and demigods. He also had so many HP that triple-damage critical hits on him didn't even force a knockdown roll. When he faced mook thugs (I don't scale up game worlds to PCs . . . mooks stay mooks), he did an AoA (Double) every turn to mow down more of them.

Originally Posted by Peter V. Dell'Orto

- attacking from total surprise.

All the time. It's just about always stacked with the +4 from Telegraphic Attack to get either +8 to hit (net +1) vs. the skull or +4 to hit (net +1) and +2 damage vs. the vitals.

Also remember that the combat system is for mooks as well as heroes. AoA is a perfectly valid and necessary tool for foes like zombies and rabid dogs.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by PseudoFenton

you could just allow a berserker to have a defence against Telegraphic Attacks

That isn't a bad option at all. Simply change the effect of Telegraphic Attack on the defender from "all active defenses against a Telegraphic Attack are at +2" to "all active defenses against a Telegraphic Attack are at +2, and even those who've made an All-Out Attack may try a defense at -4." In effect, it's so obvious that even someone who's defenseless might flinch and defend.