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Old 04-24-2017, 08:57 PM   #40
lordabdul
 
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Default Re: Balanced games for archers

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomsdad View Post
OK if you not going to go cinematic with bows, I agree with the others you are going need to tailor your encounters to reward good archer tactics.
Great tactical suggestions there, thank you!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormcrow View Post
Maybe the problem is not that archers are uninteresting, but rather that players have internalized an uninteresting option as a core concept.
I don't necessarily agree exactly with you, but yes, I agree that there might be (like in many, many things in RPGs) a disconnect between what some players expect, and what I give them with my game. I'll have to double check what my archer players had in mind when they chose that weapon as their main one.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Maz View Post
* You can't parry an arrow. (Unless using cinematic rules). Parry if often the main defense for melee fighters. Having to rely on Dodge is a big penalty.
At our table, Dodge with Retreat is always the most used defense. That's because generally there's no need to "hold a line" or something. Parrying is only ever used as an alternative when there's no room to retreat... that's probably mainly because the characters don't have very high skills (yet) so their Dodge score is pretty much the same as their Parry score. I expect that to change as they spend XP.

But otherwise yes, good points about arrows having clear advantages over melee attacks once they hit.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maz View Post
*If a large group of enemies storm at you close together (like in a corridor), it's not unreasonable to treat them as one big target giving a bonus to hit if you don't care who you hit. I add the number of targets and add a bonus equal to the speed range penalty. So 7 zombies coming at you down a corridor gives a +3 bonus to hit. (This is instead of the very cumbersome rules for stray shots).
Interesting, I'll definitely steal that! I imagine you then roll randomly to know which exact zombie was hit... and you revert back to actual single hits if the player wants to hit the same zombie as last round, or otherwise specifically hit one of the zombies for some other reason?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maz View Post
I also allow All out Ready for two actions of ready in a turn.
Cool, glad to know I'm not the only one having, or considering having, house rules for this kind of stuff.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Donny Brook View Post
A pretty good idea for constructing a Move and Ready manoeuvre was suggested by Hellboy here.
Nice, thanks for the link! I think I'll go post on that thread for all the All-Out Ready stuff, so we can keep this thread about combat tactics related to archers.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dustin View Post
Combat pace can be an issue too. If the turns are happening more frequently, the archer PCs may feel less left out. Make the melee guys roll faster :)
Yeah, I usually have a "rule of 3" at my table (i.e. "if you can't tell me what you're doing in 3 seconds, you're spending your turn thinking about it, and if you ask me more than 3 situational awareness questions, you're spending your turn looking around to know all this").

However I have a few GURPS newbies at the table so I'm giving everyone some extra time these days, and I'll reintroduce the rule of 3 in a couple sessions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by malloyd View Post
If you want missile combat to be as cool as those "realistic" melee fights, it isn't exactly amazing you need a similar degree of departure from realism.
I'm maybe thinking of doing it the other way, actually, i.e. make melee fighting more realistic (in addition to improving my combat situations by making more interesting environments/NPCs/tactics, of course). This would mean nerfing melee fighters a bit by introducing optional rules like Situational Awareness or Fatigue Spending... this would remove the ability for them to attack every turn in combat, making it both less frustrating for archers, and adding a new tactical dimension.

Last edited by lordabdul; 04-24-2017 at 10:54 PM.
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