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Old 07-09-2018, 07:33 PM   #1
ecz
 
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Default fatigue (after combat)

According RAW fatigue appears on characters only for spells and a few other events well definited in the rules or at discretion of the GM in case of tiring activities as long marches or for food/water/sleep deprivation.

I think the main cause of fatigue is combat. But, if memory serves, unless you are a wizard spending fST for spells or a fighter prone to become berserk in the heat of battle, you do not spend fST after a battle. Even if you wear a full plate and the combat lasts for minutes you only risk hit points if and when the enemy strikes you.

Well, in my opinion the fatigue after a battle for the mere stress of the melee, cannot be simply ignored.

So in my games I have introduced an abstract and simple way to calculate fatigue after combat.
It applies only to PCs wearing chainmail or plates for sake of simplicity

at the end of the combat the PC gets 1 fST if the combat lasts for 5+ turns

if it lasts 10+ turns OR the PC wearing a metal armor fights in HtH, then a 3d/ST is required.

If he makes the roll, he takes only the basic 1fST
if he fails by 1/2 points he takes 2 fST
if he fails by 3+ he takes 3 fST.


This way PCs with low ST and high DX are penalized if they wear heavy armor since they become easily exahusted after combat .Of course the GM can always decide a combat was not that strenuous despite its lenght.

Fatigue + Wounds can seriously hurt a PC that could be forced to stop any activity after a combat until he regains the ST lost. This looks realistic and opens new opportunities for the adventure.

comments?
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Last edited by ecz; 07-09-2018 at 07:37 PM.
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Old 07-09-2018, 08:23 PM   #2
Wayne
 
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Default Re: fatigue (after combat)

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Originally Posted by ecz View Post
According RAW
I've seen this a few times what's RAW? Is the AW advanced wizard?
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Old 07-09-2018, 08:34 PM   #3
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: fatigue (after combat)

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Originally Posted by Wayne View Post
I've seen this a few times what's RAW? Is the AW advanced wizard?
A common acronym for "Rules As Written" -- just whatever the text says, as opposed to common houserules or creative interpretations.
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Old 07-09-2018, 09:17 PM   #4
Rick_Smith
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Coquitlam B.C.
Default Re: fatigue (after combat)

Hi ecz, everyone.
In my campaign if a battle lasts for 4 or fewer turns, I don't worry about it.

If it lasts longer, I give out one fatigue ST (fST) damage at the end of each minute of fighting. The penalty is equal to the points of armour the person is wearing. So if you are in leather armor, you take two points of fST. Minimum loss is one point.

Works well enough for me.

Warm regards, Rick.
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Old 07-10-2018, 12:08 AM   #5
Jim Kane
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Default Re: fatigue (after combat)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ecz View Post
According RAW fatigue appears on characters only for spells and a few other events well definited in the rules or at discretion of the GM in case of tiring activities as long marches or for food/water/sleep deprivation.

I think the main cause of fatigue is combat. But, if memory serves, unless you are a wizard spending fST for spells or a fighter prone to become berserk in the heat of battle, you do not spend fST after a battle. Even if you wear a full plate and the combat lasts for minutes you only risk hit points if and when the enemy strikes you.

Well, in my opinion the fatigue after a battle for the mere stress of the melee, cannot be simply ignored.
Okay, here was our experience with this years ago.

After Hero Games released Champions - which had very good endurance & recovery rules - we tried implementing the same type of endurance costs and recovery rules into TFT, and like so many other things which worked great for Champions, it simply did not work for *us* in TFT... so we quickly abandoned the concept.

I wish I could tell you specifically *why* and *what* we didn't like about it so much, but it simply has been too many years.

While you make an excellent point, and a *very* logical case, I can tell you that I do recall how great we thought it would be - especially as none of us were scared of added bookkeeping - and how surprised we were when we collectively decided to abandon the idea; as it just didn't feel like TFT anymore - and yet, in Champions, it felt fine.

Go figure.

JK
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Old 07-10-2018, 12:24 AM   #6
Skarg
 
Join Date: May 2015
Default Re: fatigue (after combat)

I'd lower (or remove) the time requirement, considering that:

10 turns is a long TFT battle.

Really killing someone with muscle power can really wear a person out, even if it only takes a few seconds. After all, if they're competent at all and trying to kill you, you probably use a lot of effort...
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Old 07-10-2018, 02:32 AM   #7
JLV
 
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Default Re: fatigue (after combat)

I'd say a simpler method to account for this might be to just say that after a fight of X duration, Y minutes are required to recover.

So, for example, maybe you just say for every 10 turns of combat (or fraction thereof) the characters need to spend 15 minutes recovering before they move on (which would also give an opportunity for any Physickers/Magic healer types to do their thing -- though they might need to rest too). This rest doesn't count for restoring mana or anything, it simply is a pause so everyone can catch their breath (and do a little healing, if possible) before they move on.
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Old 07-10-2018, 04:36 AM   #8
zot
 
Join Date: May 2018
Default Re: fatigue (after combat)

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Originally Posted by Skarg View Post
I'd lower (or remove) the time requirement, considering that:

10 turns is a long TFT battle.

Really killing someone with muscle power can really wear a person out, even if it only takes a few seconds. After all, if they're competent at all and trying to kill you, you probably use a lot of effort...
What's the normal length of combat in your experiences?

When I settled on the per-turn power for talismans in my religion system, I figured that most combats ought to last 6 turns or less.
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Old 07-10-2018, 11:40 AM   #9
JLV
 
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Default Re: fatigue (after combat)

Well, if you'll forgive the statement, I think it falls into a bell-curve situation (like everything to do with combat does in TFT!).

In a single, one-on-one combat, the average, I'd guess, is probably around the six you stated, with some lasting only 1 or 2 turns and some lasting 10 or 12 turns (or even longer if everyone is having a bad dice-rolling day).

In group combat, the average length is probably longer, though, since there's a lot more maneuvering and tactical thinking going on...
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Old 07-10-2018, 12:18 PM   #10
Skarg
 
Join Date: May 2015
Default Re: fatigue (after combat)

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Originally Posted by zot View Post
What's the normal length of combat in your experiences?

When I settled on the per-turn power for talismans in my religion system, I figured that most combats ought to last 6 turns or less.
It varies and depends on the map, who's fighting, what happens and what the average attack damage after armor is like. If people have piles of armor and can't hurt each other much, or are getting into a big HTH pile in armor, or if terrain or some odd circumstances keeps people apart, it can take a while.

But in my experience those were exceptions. The typical battle ends up being about the time it takes someone to kill one or maybe two people, which often means 2-4 turns.

Also important for a fatigue cost would be how many turns each person spent actually doing non-ranged attacks, and I'd expect that is usually not going to be more than the time it takes to kill one or two people.

I've run a few battles with 100-200+ figures, and was surprised that although they took hours to play out, the turn count was like 12-24 turns or so.

Maybe 1 point of fatigue for every two turns non-ranged attacking, defending, or in HTH, which applies only after you cool down, and won't amount to more than 1/2 your ST, and won't kill you?

Well, there should be an effect of encumbrance/armor too. Maybe it's every 4 turns if you have no encumbrance or MA reduction from armor, every 3 turns if you have MA 8 from armor or an encumbrance level, every 2 turns if you have MA 6 or two encumbrance levels, and every turn if you're more burdened than that.

(Note those would be guidelines and GMs could/should of course use their discretion in preference to tracking everyone's number of attacks.)

Last edited by Skarg; 07-10-2018 at 12:22 PM.
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