View Single Post
Old 04-23-2017, 02:56 PM   #21
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Balanced games for archers

Quote:
Originally Posted by lordabdul View Post
1) 30 yards away gives -7 to shooting. Even with All-Out Attack, you probably need to aim a round or two to be able to effectively target a limb (like I said, shooting arrows at torsos is ineffective because it probably takes 2 arrows to get an NPC to half move, whereas you can cripple a leg in one arrow).
You are aware the wounding multiplier for impaling doesn't apply to limbs, right? If you're doing enough damage to cripple a leg with one hit - meaning doing more than 1/2 HP in damage - then the x2 modifier for an impaling arrow means torso shots will be dropping the foe below 0 HP. That means the foe has to roll against HT each second to not pass out, has to immediately roll against Knockdown and Stunning, and is at half move.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lordabdul View Post
2) On a pure gaming practicality aspect, most combat mats I've seen don't have enough room to handle scenes that require a, say, 50 yards radius... so it means either starting the combat scene without the minis for the ranged combat preamble, and then taking out the mat/minis when everybody gets closer... or somehow use a different scale/mat for the beginning of the combat, or something like. It's clearly possible, but that just never occured to me before :)
For foes who are out of range on the combat mat, simply note their range on your scratch paper, and place their miniatures just outside of the mat (ideally arranged to show their relative positions). Once they get close enough, you can put them on the mat.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lordabdul View Post
Well that's the problem I think -- and why I'm considering this "All-Out Ready" maneuver... how can the archers keep their distance from the melee guys running at them?
My Combat Posture system (which I linked earlier, but it can be a bit... dense) can be used to create new maneuvers like this fairly readily. An All-Out Ready would either give half Move and a +4 to relevant rolls, or full Move and no bonus (which is appropriate when you don't need to make a roll), in exchange for lacking the ability to defend yourself. Do note you'll have to spend some of your movement turning around to run, or you'll be at reduced movement for running backwards.

For the latter, the best option is to have some sort of barrier in the way. The easiest to manage is the time-honored meatshield - simply having the melee characters placed to interdict any movement will make it difficult for foes to reach you. Another traditional method is to take the high ground - vertical distance counts less toward Range, foes move more slowly (and may need to make DX rolls to avoid falling, particularly when dodging - or failing to dodge - arrows) on a slope, and climbing foes have pretty poor defenses. An archer in a tree is very tough to reach. Throwing out caltrops in an arc in front of you is pretty quick and will likely either stop your foes (if they step on them) or force them to slow down (if they see them first). More time to prepare can let you set up tripwires (attached to deadfalls if you have a lot of time, but otherwise being useful from knocking them down to buy you more time) as well. Camouflaging the previous options can be nasty, as it makes it much harder for the foe to notice in time.
__________________
GURPS Overhaul
Varyon is online now   Reply With Quote