Advanced Combat Primer

[i3ullseye]

Introduction:
What is this all about? I am hoping to make this a nice booklet of advanced combat systems for the Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game (MURPG). Not necessarily new rules, but systems to apply the rules already in place to the more advanced aspects of combat. Most of the rules listed are very free-form, and completely open to GM interpretation. This will be a guide to using those open rules to model certain combat features a bit more accurately.

But why?

Well, for one the task to run such an open system can be daunting. Many GMs can sit down with a brand new system and within a week have all the particular nuances they want in place. But sometimes even the most capable GM really prefers to have a codified set of systems or rules to fall back on. Something to give guidance in some of the trickier aspects of a game.

Now this will always be a cooperative effort. There are many people I will thank, and a few come to mind already (cwylric, Evan Jones (QED), Vitruvian) but rather than mention everyone who has input into this let me just say up front THANKS. Others are focusing their efforts on pointing out balance problems in the game, or areas of powers that are too vague, perhaps under priced, or just plain missing. I am sure this will lead to the game being better for all involved and I can’t wait to see their results.

But I do not want to re-invent the wheel. I do not want to focus all my efforts trying to come up with different solutions to the problems they already address. So I wish to focus my efforts on combat, and combat alone. There will be some crossover of course, but again…. I WILL NOT BE CHANGING ANY PRE-EXISTANT RULES. This is a new way to interpret the rules already in place. The rules as written are well done, and I see no need to try to deconstruct them.

So with that….

[i3ullseye]

The Basic Combat Page:
We all know he rules as written on combat, and the order of actions. It is all pretty simple if a bit vague. What is certainly missing is a numbered sequence to define exactly what occurs within a panel, not just the page itself. As early as page 7 we are introduced to the playing cycle, and it is more than adequate. But maybe what happens within those panels could use a bit more detail, and even the order of announcing action could use a bit of polish for those of us more combat minded. So here is my more detailed page/panel system.

1- New Page is Announced
.....a. Everyone takes their recovery
.....b. The GM may describe the overall situation, and remind each .....player of their energy totals
2- Announcement Stage
.....a. Starting with the lowest Agility (or speed) each character .....announces what they intend to do
.....b. We go from lowest to highest so the faster characters can tailor .....their actions to the actions they see the slower ones taking, this is .....a bonus for their quick response time.
.....c. If they have the same Agility (or Speed) they declare .....simultaneously
3- Exposing Stage
.....a. Stones are shown to everyone.
.....b. The GM may assign any circumstantial modifiers as they see fit.
4- Action resolution
.....a. From the order of HIGHEST agility or speed, to the lowest
.......... i. Note: all ranged combat (AT range) goes first.
.......... ii. If someone has a ranged attack, but the person with a ..........higher agility is within melee range of them, then the melee ..........strike goes before their ranged attack
..........iii. See special situations at the end of this for excessive speeds ..........and changed actions
5- Final effects
.....a. Now the GM may describe any final effects of the current page.



Ok, a few notes now on special additions. The first would be regards to high speed characters. As presented above the order would be this…

Highest Agility or Speed at long range – then highest agility or speed at close combat range. If a melee type is next to someone trying to use a long range attack, then they are considered in melee, event though one is trying to shoot. The exception to this is below.

Super Speed Exception: If a character has a speed that is 5 higher than his opponents Agility or Speed he can then act BEFORE that opponents ranged attack. So if Cyclops is trying to shoot Toad, even with Cykes 2 Agility versus the Toads 4, Cyckes gets to go first. Even if the targets Agility was 10, Cyckes would shoot first. But if Cyclops is trying to shoot Quicksilver…. Quicksilver actually gets to act before Cyclops can shoot. This rule should ONLY apply if the character in question has paid to base his action order off of Speed. If someone has a speed of 8, but still bases his actions off of Agility (even if it is an Agility of 10), Cyclops would still shoot first.

Another alteration would be for changing your action during the resolution stage. Sometimes things change, and you want to adapt. In the comics they do it all the time. So here is how I see it working.

You must still use the stones as spent for the round. You also must still perform the same basic action as you intended. If you were going to use close combat, you need to use close combat. If you were acrobatically trying to get through a door that is closed before you make it, you can then STILL make that acrobatic move, but to a new location within range.

Now if you do shift actions like this, you lose 2 stones from the action. This also removes 2 from your effective Action Rank or the purposes of deciding if you can succeed at an action. And this can NOT be used to place extra stones into defense.

These clarifications and additions should make the combat page flow a bit more metered and allow for more strategy with range and melee combat.

[i3ullseye]

Special Combat Techniques (Melee):
Next I want to cover special techniques for melee. Things like Grappling or melee weapon considerations.

GRAPPLING- just how does on grapple? Well, you basically try to hit…. If you succeed you have grabbed someone. Simple right?

Well, there is far more to it than that. So here is a bit more detail for grappling. First thing to note is if the character has a close combat specialty for a grappling type fighting style. If they do, and their opponent does also, then no change. If neither does then no change. But if one participant has a grappling art, and the other does not, then the one who DOES have a grappling specialty will receive a free stone for all panels they are engaged in grappling the unskilled individual. This does NOT apply on the initial grapple. ALL fighting styles include trying not to be grabbed.

Grappling ignores toughness. It can also ignore other defenses that are intended to lessen or prevent damage. The initial grapple is basically a touch attack.

ONCE someone is grappled, this is when the new systems kick in. Grappling is a matter of opposed Strength (or Close Combat stat). The person maintaining the hold is going to apply stones to keep the hold, and those same stones will also do damage to the target. The defender will apply stones to try to resist or break the hold. They can also opt to make an in-close attack and try to disrupt the grapplers hold. So how do we handle all these?

Grappler applies stones based on Strength. If they have a close combat specialty that includes grappling, they can use their close combat stat instead. So if they have a Strength of 3, and Agility of 5, and Close Combat with a bonus from Agility… AND have a specialty in Jujitsu they can then use 5 stones from their agility rather than their strength. If their opponent does not also have a grappling specialty they get one free stone.

The defender can spend up to their Strength, or up to their Stat bonus for close combat if they have a grappling specialty, as above.

If the Grappler has more stones, how ever many stones he exceeds the defenders stones by get through as crushing damage. Toughness and other defenses DO reduce this damage amount.

If the defender has assigned more stones to his defense than the attacker has, he breaks the hold.

If the stone totals are even, the grapple continues with no damage done.

Now if the defender assigns enough stones to his defense to match the stones of the attacker PLUS the attackers full Close Combat score (grappling specialty or not) this is a reversal. The defender then has his previous attacker in a hold and the roles have reversed.

SPECIAL GRAPPLING MODIFIERS-
A character with Stretching may substitute his rank in Stretching for his grappling ability.
Adamantium Skeleton adds 1 stone from the GP when DEFENDING in a grapple.
Non-breathing characters received 1 stone from the GP when DEFENDING in a grapple.
The attacker can make other melee attacks on someone they have grappled at –1 stone.
Someone who is GRAPPLED can make melee attacks on their assailant at –2 stones.
Effectively using an item while grappling is –2 stones.

BREAKING THINGS- The rules for breaking things are best pointed out in the section on the Charge Object action (thanks Psistrike). It states that damage done ot an object is doubled or tripled (of applicable) BEFORE being applied to an object. So a Force Blast at X2 damage will do double the amount of stones put into it to an object hit. The object then reduces it's harness from this amount. The remaining stoens are the amount of effect.

The example given is to blow a hole in a wall. D&R rankings for objects are arbitrary, and the GM can actually assign objects with a high Difficulty, but low Resistance (Bullet Proof Glass), or a low Difficulty but a realtively high Resistance (5 foot thick wood).

One coudl safely assume that if enough damage was done to cover the combined Difficulty and TWICE the Resistance of an object, it is obliterated. Example- a gun is made of steel and has a hardness of 6, but only a difficulty of 2 singe there is very little mass to it. Doing 7 points will exceed the hardness by 1 and cause 1 damage...enough to render it inoperable.

If he you do a full 10 points, this is then 4 over the hardness... 4 being double the resistance of 2, you would turn it to dust.

WEAPONS AND SPECIAL ITEMS- If a weapon or item does not list a hardness, or an effective durability, assume it to have an AR equal to the material it is made of. If one is not listed, assume it to be equal to it’s highest AR or modifier rank. Example, Wolvies Claws are Adamantium so they are almost unbreakable (10+), but Elektras sais are not listed with any material. So since her sai is a +2 weapon we can assume they are AR 2 for anyone directly trying to break them.

[i3ullseye]

Special Combat Techniques (Ranged):
THROWING THINGS- Throwing is pretty well laid out, but not necessarily in the most descriptive manner. Here is the basic process for throwing things.

Throwing is a factor of how much excess strength you have relative to the items weight. What do I mean by this? If an item would be weight level 4 on the D&R chart, and you have a strength of 4, you can lift it… but would only be able to chuck it about 5 feet. Not technically ranged. If the item had a weight of 4 and the HULK was throwing it however… it would have a range of 6…. Since the Hulk exceeds it’s weight with his strength by 6 stones.

So how much energy does this cost? At least 4 to lift it, and then it would cost the remaining 6 in effort to get full range. But the item would only do damage according to it's weight and material strength. Take the weight and the material strength… and pick the lower of the two. Either it is too light to do full force, or it is too fragile to have all it’s weight applied effectively. And throwing damage is based on object size. Small objects are single damage, bout to the size of a trashcan or park bench (AR size 2), Medium object (AR size 3,4 and 5) do double damage, and large items (Ar size 6 and above) are triple damage. This damage is multiplied BEFORE applying defenses like toughness.


Example- A Car is made of Steel and weighs about 2000 lbs. So this is a weight of AR4, and a hardness of AR5 roughly. The car, if thrown, would then do 4 stones of Damage. No matter the range, or the strength used to throw it. The size is AR 4, so this is medium and a car does double damage, or 8 stones.

Weapons do not follow this system as they are DESIGNED to apply maximum force effectively.

To target with this, the TOTAL stones are considered the attack value, with a -2 stones for being an unfamiliar weapon. If the specialty Thrown Objects is taken in ranged combat, then this -2 penalty is ignored.

BOUNCING- Happens all the time in the comics. Cap bounces his shield off 3 bad guys and it returns to his hand. Daredevil bounces his club off 2 walls before clobbering some punk. How do we handle this?

First, to be able to bounce the ranged attack MUST be an innate action (Cyclopses optic blast) or a weapon for which you have a Ranged Combat Specialty.
You can make 1 bounce for every rank you have in the power or Ranged Combat.
You must subtract 1 stone for each bounce from the attack.
And you can spend 1 extra stone to ensure that even if a portion of the attack fails the item will return to you (if desired).

Not much more to it.

BULLSEYE- Ok, Bulls needs some special clarification on his throwing skills. He has a specialty that states he can throw NON-WEAPONS as weapons. This is an ability that should no be available to everyone. Hell, this should probably not be available to anyone BUT him. I would put this as a +3 level cost modifier on Ranged combat.

So he can use targeting with this. But improvised weapons do no have a weapon mod, so it would be useless since you can only use targeting to DOUBLE the inherent bonus of a ranged weapon. How do we handle this? Well in Bullseyes hand everything IS a weapon. So his ability should apply basic weapon modifier stats to mundane objects. Here is how I handle this.

All objects start at a base +1 modifer.
If the object is over 2 Lbs (but under 5) it gets a +1.
If the object is of a material above rank 3 hardness it gets a +1.
If the object has an edge or a point to it there is a +1.
If the object is particularly aerodynamic it gets a +1.

So the maximum that can be applied is a +5, which his targeting can then double to +10. A knife could be 2 lbs (+1), made of steel (+1), has an edge/point (+1), and is well balanced for throwing (+1). This makes a throwing knife in his hands a +5 weapon. This is much more than a listed knife. Well, that's right! That's what he does!

Now this could be applied to close combat also, for a martial arts type that can use any object as a weapon. It is powerful, but not so extreme as to make these characters unstoppable.

[i3ullseye]

Energy Concerns:
Now there is some concern that characters run out of energy too fast. I think a lot of this is resolved by creative play which generates free stones form the GP. If you look at the chart on page 104 you will see MANY ways for a character to get bonus stones on almost all panels of play. These can make a huge difference in combat.

Lifelong Vengeance is 2 stones. Acting Heroically is +1 stone. Saving a friend/an innocent/the city is +1 stone. Real cool description by player is +1 stone. Shot that counts or last chance to save the day is +1-2 stones. Overcoming or playing into a challenge is +1 stone. Etc…..

There is a lot there. So spending maximum energy is no always the best option, nor is it normally necessary. Being creative and using your environment can add quite a bit of stones to the panel, and all of it might only take 1 stone of actually performing an action. Now, the book states that you should not use more than 1 or 2 modifiers at a time, and I agree. But there are some instances where many can (and will) apply. But you should never get a 6+ action for dropping one stone in based solely on situational modifiers. So I would suggest that sit-mods can only be added up to the amount of stones already in an action. If you apply 1 stone, the most you will gain is 1 stone. Apply 3, you can gain up to 3 to make is a +6 action.

But even adding 1 or 2 stones a panel is a huge swing in energy expenditure. But for those times when you need to recover, I suggest allowing characters to take a breather.

TAKE A BREATHER- When the character decides to take a breather they must spend NO stones on that panel. Even free stones can not be used. If they are hit, or if they use even 1 stone (free or otherwise) the breather is nullified. They gain their normal energy recovery on the panel they take the breather, but spend NONE.

Now if they can spend that whole panel without expending a stone, being hit, etc… the following round their recovery is doubled.

Example: Spidey is out of web fluid and fell form a building. He used all 12 stones into Agility and Acrobatics to break his fall on flagpoles and such. But he knows the Goblin is pursuing him, and will get to the alley below the following round, so he takes a breather.

He is at 0 energy, but gets his normal 4 stones of regular recovery and declares he is taking the breather. Now if anyone hit him, even if no damage gets through, he will no get the benefit of taking a breather. If he spends a single stone into ANYTHING he will not get to take a breather.

So after sitting idle for this panel, the next recovery he takes is doubled, for 8 stones. So he will be back to a full 1 stones of energy. Generally speaking, an uninjured person taking a breather will be back o full energy on the round following the breather.

This rule does not actually help intelligence based energy users, but it shouldn’t. They have their own inherent advantages and this rule helps balance them out.

Conclusion:
Well, that sums it up for now. I will add to this document over time and maybe add more detail and ideas as I hear from others. But I hope this helps some people with some more advanced combat options in their games.

[i3ullseye]

Link to a Word Doc version.....

home.comcast.net/~i3ullseye1/MURPGACP.doc