Quick one on Attacks from Above

Athanbeli · 01-11-2010, 05:36 AM

As usual, I'm in a hurry, as I have just a few hours left to figure this out:

* Campaigns does not mention any damage bonus from melee attacks from above. I guess this should at leat grant the same bonuses of flying lunges from MA. Am I missing anything?

* Campaigns also reminds us how predators often fall unto their victims, and that damage from the fall itself should be resolved separately from the attack. This means that the 2 damage rolls are to be added, when the attack is succesful? DR is to be taken into account twice or only once?

Thanks!

davidtmoore · 01-11-2010, 06:12 AM

Attack from Above does not provide a damage bonus. It assesses a hit penalty due to the difficulty of the attack, and adds a defense penalty, due to most people's ignorance of the world above their LOS. It does not automatically increase damage.

However, for the purposes of a Slam (including a Flying Tackle, Pounce, or Drop Kick), calculate your Move based on your falling speed, based on the Collision and Falling rules. If you're falling from a decent height, this should be higher than you're normally capable of running, and TBH honest most attacks from above should be slams or variations thereon anyway.

Captain Joy · 01-11-2010, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidtmoore

Attack from Above does not provide a damage bonus. It assesses a hit penalty due to the difficulty of the attack, and adds a defense penalty....

This is discussed in some detail in this Higher Ground [Combat] thread. In short, while increasing the damage done by the higher attacker seems a reasonable thing to do, it is not part of the rules as written.

Bruno · 01-11-2010, 01:32 PM

I missed that one.

If I had someone who was worried about the damage in my game, I'd yank out the rules for slamming with a weapon from Martial arts, and the rules for combat with a Lance - if I recall correctly, it runs roughly like "Calculate slam damage normally, use that as the base dice before applying weapon modifiers". Use falling speed as per the table to calculate damage.

I wouldn't use it unless a player was really antsy about it, however, because it's a LOT of math to drop into the middle of a fight.

Athanbeli · 01-11-2010, 02:09 PM

So here's this kind of monster - say, a sort of clawed and armored giant chamaleon (Hp 19; DR 5) - dropping on the pcs from 7 yards:

*2 attacks: CLAW + CLAW

* damage per attack: 2 x 19 x 12 / 100 = 4,56 = 5d cutting

Is that right?

Wait! How did the pendulum ghoul (creature of night X...) attack?!?

Captain Joy · 01-11-2010, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Athanbeli

So here's this kind of monster - say, a sort of clawed and armored giant chamaleon (Hp 19; DR 5) - dropping on the pcs from 7 yards:

*2 attacks: CLAW + CLAW

* damage per attack: 2 x 19 x 12 / 100 = 4,56 = 5d cutting

Is that right?

Personally, assuming the monster has Extra Attack 1, I would give it two attacks:

The intial drop-onto/slam-attack from above without any cut/imp claw bonus
It's usual claw attack

davidtmoore · 01-11-2010, 02:49 PM

That's my take. Actually, I'd All-Out (Double), use the Pounce rules to Slam with crushing damage and knock the victim over, make the DX roll to stay standing on the target, then use the second attack to grapple with my foreclaws and the Extra Attack to claw with hind feet (getting the kick damage bonus) and doing the same on following turns. That's a pretty close description of how ambush predators attack.

01-11-2010, 05:36 AM	#1
Athanbeli Join Date: May 2007 Location: Verona, Italy	Quick one on Attacks from Above As usual, I'm in a hurry, as I have just a few hours left to figure this out: * Campaigns does not mention any damage bonus from melee attacks from above. I guess this should at leat grant the same bonuses of flying lunges from MA. Am I missing anything? * Campaigns also reminds us how predators often fall unto their victims, and that damage from the fall itself should be resolved separately from the attack. This means that the 2 damage rolls are to be added, when the attack is succesful? DR is to be taken into account twice or only once? Thanks! __________________ My Vanity Vent...

01-11-2010, 06:12 AM	#2
davidtmoore Join Date: Dec 2009	Re: Quick one on Attacks from Above Attack from Above does not provide a damage bonus. It assesses a hit penalty due to the difficulty of the attack, and adds a defense penalty, due to most people's ignorance of the world above their LOS. It does not automatically increase damage. However, for the purposes of a Slam (including a Flying Tackle, Pounce, or Drop Kick), calculate your Move based on your falling speed, based on the Collision and Falling rules. If you're falling from a decent height, this should be higher than you're normally capable of running, and TBH honest most attacks from above should be slams or variations thereon anyway.

01-11-2010, 01:32 PM	#4
Bruno Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Canada	Re: Quick one on Attacks from Above I missed that one. If I had someone who was worried about the damage in my game, I'd yank out the rules for slamming with a weapon from Martial arts, and the rules for combat with a Lance - if I recall correctly, it runs roughly like "Calculate slam damage normally, use that as the base dice before applying weapon modifiers". Use falling speed as per the table to calculate damage. I wouldn't use it unless a player was really antsy about it, however, because it's a LOT of math to drop into the middle of a fight. __________________ All about Size Modifier; Unified Hit Location Table A Wiki for my F2F Group A neglected GURPS blog

01-11-2010, 02:09 PM	#5
Athanbeli Join Date: May 2007 Location: Verona, Italy	Re: Quick one on Attacks from Above So here's this kind of monster - say, a sort of clawed and armored giant chamaleon (Hp 19; DR 5) - dropping on the pcs from 7 yards: *2 attacks: CLAW + CLAW * damage per attack: 2 x 19 x 12 / 100 = 4,56 = 5d cutting Is that right? Wait! How did the pendulum ghoul (creature of night X...) attack?!? __________________ My Vanity Vent...

01-11-2010, 02:49 PM	#7
davidtmoore Join Date: Dec 2009	Re: Quick one on Attacks from Above That's my take. Actually, I'd All-Out (Double), use the Pounce rules to Slam with crushing damage and knock the victim over, make the DX roll to stay standing on the target, then use the second attack to grapple with my foreclaws and the Extra Attack to claw with hind feet (getting the kick damage bonus) and doing the same on following turns. That's a pretty close description of how ambush predators attack.