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04-15-2010, 01:27 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Houston
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[GM] At last! A combat Matrix is Born(sort of)
The PDF is Here
No doubt you've all grown tired of me posting huge walls of text about balancing encounters. I think I may have found, once and for all, a convient single page of tables that will allow people to scale combat encounters easily and quickly. Lets take a Hypothetical Bad Guy and see if we cant scale him around shall we? Generic Test Orc: Sword (16):DMG 2D DR:6 Parry: 11 HP: 12 While this might be a suitable foe for Begining DF adventurers, What if your not playing DF? What if your just playing something lower powered? So Well say that, on average, a DF 'Begingin Frontline Fighter' ballparks in at Attack : 17 DMG: 2D+1 Defense: 13 DR: 4 Then That Means Fighter Attack V Defense : 40% Damge V DR : 70% Expectation : 2pts per penetration x 1.5 for wounding = 3 Orc AVD: 20% DMG v DR : 80% Expectation: 3 per penetration x 1.5 for wounding = 4.5 or 4 So know we know the balance points, what If i wanted to take the same orc write up but use the monster against more humble warriors? Say in the neighborhood of ... Low Fighter: Attack: 12 Defense: 11 DMG : 1d+1 DR: 2 Expectation 1.5*1.5 = 2 Then for our percentages to remain the same the Orc changes to Attack: 10 Defense:10 DMG:1d+1 DR: 3 Expectaion 2.5 * 1.5 = 4 NOte that the Expectaion Damage/round has changed for the fighter a bit. Its not alot, but if it were really bothering us we could offset it by bumping the Fighters attack % (not damag vs DR) by a little bit or by dropping the HP of the orcs. What if we were going the other way? What if, like Azinctus our party had swaggering 400 point combat wombats on the order of Epic Fighter Attack:30 Defense : 18 DMG:5D DR:13 Expectation: 2.5 DMG * Wounding And we wanted to use the same orcs? Where should we set the knobs then? Epic Orc Attack:24 Defense: 18 DMG: 4D +2 DR:15 Expectation: 3 * wounding EASY! Nymdok p.s. I havent added this to my website yet, but look for it soon! Last edited by Nymdok; 04-16-2010 at 12:44 AM. |
04-15-2010, 03:22 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Seattle, WA
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Re: [GM] At last! A combat Matrix is Born(sort of)
Oh hey, thanks man. I look forward to the chance of looking this over. :)
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04-15-2010, 03:46 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Spain —Europe
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Re: [GM] At last! A combat Matrix is Born(sort of)
Very interesting work, Nymdok.
Listing a direct link to this page of your website in the very matrix could be useful.
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"Let's face it: for some people, roleplaying is a serious challenge, a life-or-death struggle." J. M. Caparula/Scott Haring "Physics is basic but inessential." Wolfgang Smith My G+ Last edited by demonsbane; 04-15-2010 at 03:50 PM. |
04-16-2010, 02:48 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Lyon, France
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Re: [GM] At last! A combat Matrix is Born(sort of)
I'm very impressed. I don't understand. But I am impressed. :-)
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"wars and storms are best to be read of, but peace and calms are better to endure" Jeremy Bentham |
04-16-2010, 02:55 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Re: [GM] At last! A combat Matrix is Born(sort of)
Uh, that is wonderful.
Thanks! |
04-16-2010, 03:23 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Houston
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Re: [GM] At last! A combat Matrix is Born(sort of)
Quote:
Its a very simple, single page set of matricies that can serve 2 functions:
How it Solves Problem 1: The biggest problem I think in writing adventures for gurps is that everyone spends their CP differently so its tough to write a module that will balance well for everyone. Some people may play in a party of 4 swash bucklers and thats going to need a very different set of monster skills, Damage, DR and Active Defense than 2 clerics a thief and a Martial Artist. Still others may be playing 50 point peasants! With these tables, consistent with the example above, we can translate those encounters easily and quickly by focusing on those 4 'Per Turn' combat matrices.How it Solves Problem 2: As its based on the other spred sheets Ive been using, just with round numbers, it can still be used to balance encounters as we did before in the 400 point demon thread, the Suitably dangers DF encounters thread and various other places. Just instead of needing 5 pages of spreadsheets, we just need one page of 3 matricies. Its true that we loose a little something in the granularity and resolution, but we gain so much in simplicity that its worth it!Make sense now? Nymdok |
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04-16-2010, 11:43 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Delta, BC
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Re: [GM] At last! A combat Matrix is Born(sort of)
I've been thinking that GURPS needed something like this for a long time. Very awesome, thanks for sharing!
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04-17-2010, 12:24 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
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Re: [GM] At last! A combat Matrix is Born(sort of)
Nymdok,
I am skeptical, but I am willing to try a “real world” test or two. In my DF game, my players have a big "Boss" encounter with Acid Spiders coming up. In my mind, a Boss encounter should have most of the party seriously wounded, with a chance of death for one or two of them (assuming the dice don't turn against them with a string of criticals). Using your combat matrix, how many Acid Spider opponents should I send at the 6 PCs as a “Boss” encounter? I'll run it with your suggestion rather than what I had planned. -Dan The opponents Acid Spiders Bite (15) Dmg: 2d+1 imp + 1d-3 per second corrosion follow up for 10 sec. Defenses P / D/ B = 0 / 11/ 0 DR 0 HP 26 Speed/Move: 7 / 9 (+ 10 yard Jump) Stealth 15 The players: Barbarian/Scout 2 x Axe (18) Dmg: 3d+1 Bow (22) Dmg: 1d+4 Defenses: P / D/ B = 13 / 12 / 0 DR: 4 HP 22 Speed/Move: 7 / 8 Knight/Scout Sword (17) Dmg: 2d+1 cut / 1d + 1 imp Bow (22) Dmg:1d+2 Defenses: P / D/ B = 12+2/ 12+2/ 13+2 (Med Shield) DR: 4 HP 13 Speed/Move: 7.25 / 8 Swashbuckler/Martial Artist 2 x Sabre (19) Dmg: 1d+3 / 1d+1 Throwing Knife (16) Dmg: 1d-2 imp Defenses: P / D/ B = 15 / 12 / 0 DR: 4 HP 10 Speed/Move: 7.25 / 8 (10) Thief /Martial-Artist 2 x Saber (15) Dmg: 1d+1 / cut 1d-1 imp normal 2d-1 cut / 1d imp suprise Bow (16) Dmg: 1d+2 imp Karate (16) Dmg: 1d cr Defenses: P / D/ B = 11 / 11/ 0 DR: 4 HP 11 Speed/Move: 6.25 / 7 Cleric Sword (15) Dmg: 1d+2 cut /1d imp Sunbolt (15) Dmg: 1d – 9d burn Defenses: P / D/ B = 10+2 / 9+2/ 10+2 (Med Shield) DR 4 HP 11 Speed/Move: 6.25 / 6 Mage Staff (15) Dmg: 1d+2 cr (swing) 1d cr (thrust) Flame Jet (16) Dmg: 1d – 3d Fireball (16) Dmg: 1d -18d burn Explosive Fireball (16): 1d Create Fire/Fast Fire (20): Dmg 1d/2d per turn Defenses: P / D/ B = 12 / 9/ 0 DR: 4 HP 10 Speed/Move: 6.25 / 6 Last edited by DAT; 04-17-2010 at 12:31 PM. |
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balance, combat rules |
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