Post by takewithfood on Jul 8, 2009 16:30:50 GMT -5
Hey gang,
So, for the most part we don't really need rules for touching and grappling people; we've always gotten by, somehow. But if I can come up with a simple enough rule, I'll try it out. Here's what I have in mind so far:
Thoughts?
~TWF
So, for the most part we don't really need rules for touching and grappling people; we've always gotten by, somehow. But if I can come up with a simple enough rule, I'll try it out. Here's what I have in mind so far:
Touching
You can declare that a Close Combat attack is only to touch, rather than to damage. If you do so, compare stones of attack, ignoring Toughness - but instead of dealing damage, any stones in excess of your opponent's defenses (if any) are refunded to you at the end of the Page. Depending on whether you need to make contact with skin, you might also be able to ignore your opponent's armor.
Example: While defending himself against Sabretooth, Elixir rationalizes that his potentially deadly Mastery of Biological Structure (call it what you want) probably won't kill the ferocious mutant, but it might just slow him down long enough to make an escape. He is hopelessly outclassed in Close Combat, but all he has to do is make a touch. He puts 5 stones into Close Combat - the most he can manage, knowing that he'll be refunded anything in excess. With his second Action, he allocates several stones in his Mastery for a deadly attack.
The arrogant Sabretooth wants to torment his victim and hasn't bothered to shift stones to defense. His Toughness 2 is ignored and his Reflexive Dodge 3 isn't enough to protect him on its own! Elixir's touch is successful and he is refunded 2 stones of energy at the end of the panel. Now the important question becomes: will his Mastery be enough to put the monster down?
You can declare that a Close Combat attack is only to touch, rather than to damage. If you do so, compare stones of attack, ignoring Toughness - but instead of dealing damage, any stones in excess of your opponent's defenses (if any) are refunded to you at the end of the Page. Depending on whether you need to make contact with skin, you might also be able to ignore your opponent's armor.
Example: While defending himself against Sabretooth, Elixir rationalizes that his potentially deadly Mastery of Biological Structure (call it what you want) probably won't kill the ferocious mutant, but it might just slow him down long enough to make an escape. He is hopelessly outclassed in Close Combat, but all he has to do is make a touch. He puts 5 stones into Close Combat - the most he can manage, knowing that he'll be refunded anything in excess. With his second Action, he allocates several stones in his Mastery for a deadly attack.
The arrogant Sabretooth wants to torment his victim and hasn't bothered to shift stones to defense. His Toughness 2 is ignored and his Reflexive Dodge 3 isn't enough to protect him on its own! Elixir's touch is successful and he is refunded 2 stones of energy at the end of the panel. Now the important question becomes: will his Mastery be enough to put the monster down?
Grappling
You can opt to grapple an opponent by making a touch attack with Close Combat. If your touch is successful, you and your opponent are grappling.
Grappling Penalties
While grappling, you suffer a -4 situational modifier on all Actions, though purely mental Actions can ignore this penalty, and an appropriate specialty (such as "jujitsu" or "wrestling" when using Close Combat) can reduce the penalty to -2. You must also account for your opponent's weight if you attempt to use any Movement Actions that require you to essentially carry them with you.
Comparing Grapple Results
At the start of each subsequent Page, compare either your Strength, your Agility, or your Close Combat AN (whichever is highest) against your opponents (whichever of theirs is highest, too). You can improve your chances by adding stones of Close Combat, Strength or Agility; do not apply the -4 situational modifier in this case.
The total number (your best attribute + any stones you might add) is called your Grapple Result. The character with the highest Grapple Result gets to choose whether to break the grapple or maintain it. If you choose to break the grapple, all grapple penalties disappear at the start of your Panel.
Dominance
Dominant characters currently have the advantage in a grapple and gain a +2 bonus to their next Grapple Result. The character who initiated the grapple is considered Dominant during the first Page of the struggle; thereafter, whoever won the previous Grapple Result comparison gains or maintains Dominance.
Example: The Juggernaut was enjoying a fine afternoon of bank robbing before the puny X-Men showed up - then he started enjoying a good beat-down. He had allocated 9 stones of x2 damage Close Combat nastiness to cave in Cyclops' head when stupid Wolverine (who has a higher Initiative) jumps on his back by making a successful Touch attack (which ignored Juggy's prodigious Toughness).
Juggernaut's 9 stone attack suddenly suffers a -4 situational modifier. The remaining 5 stones barely exceed Cyclops' defense of 4. Cyclops is hit for 1 white, but without Wolverine's interference it could have been 4 white!
At the start of the following Page, Juggernaut and Wolverine compare Grapple Results. Juggernaut chooses his Strength of 9 and is confident that it will be enough to shrug the angry little man off.
Wolverine, however, is determined to hang on while his team regroups. He uses his Close Combat AN of 5 as his Grapple Result for starters; he is also Dominant because he started the Grapple, and so he adds +2; finally, he allocates 6 stones of Close Combat for a total Grapple Result of 12.
Wolverine wins the first grapple contest and decides to hang on. Juggernaut continues to suffer penalties while he battles the rest of the X-Men, though if he gets serious enough he'll easily be able to shrug Wolverine off.
You can opt to grapple an opponent by making a touch attack with Close Combat. If your touch is successful, you and your opponent are grappling.
Grappling Penalties
While grappling, you suffer a -4 situational modifier on all Actions, though purely mental Actions can ignore this penalty, and an appropriate specialty (such as "jujitsu" or "wrestling" when using Close Combat) can reduce the penalty to -2. You must also account for your opponent's weight if you attempt to use any Movement Actions that require you to essentially carry them with you.
Comparing Grapple Results
At the start of each subsequent Page, compare either your Strength, your Agility, or your Close Combat AN (whichever is highest) against your opponents (whichever of theirs is highest, too). You can improve your chances by adding stones of Close Combat, Strength or Agility; do not apply the -4 situational modifier in this case.
The total number (your best attribute + any stones you might add) is called your Grapple Result. The character with the highest Grapple Result gets to choose whether to break the grapple or maintain it. If you choose to break the grapple, all grapple penalties disappear at the start of your Panel.
Dominance
Dominant characters currently have the advantage in a grapple and gain a +2 bonus to their next Grapple Result. The character who initiated the grapple is considered Dominant during the first Page of the struggle; thereafter, whoever won the previous Grapple Result comparison gains or maintains Dominance.
Example: The Juggernaut was enjoying a fine afternoon of bank robbing before the puny X-Men showed up - then he started enjoying a good beat-down. He had allocated 9 stones of x2 damage Close Combat nastiness to cave in Cyclops' head when stupid Wolverine (who has a higher Initiative) jumps on his back by making a successful Touch attack (which ignored Juggy's prodigious Toughness).
Juggernaut's 9 stone attack suddenly suffers a -4 situational modifier. The remaining 5 stones barely exceed Cyclops' defense of 4. Cyclops is hit for 1 white, but without Wolverine's interference it could have been 4 white!
At the start of the following Page, Juggernaut and Wolverine compare Grapple Results. Juggernaut chooses his Strength of 9 and is confident that it will be enough to shrug the angry little man off.
Wolverine, however, is determined to hang on while his team regroups. He uses his Close Combat AN of 5 as his Grapple Result for starters; he is also Dominant because he started the Grapple, and so he adds +2; finally, he allocates 6 stones of Close Combat for a total Grapple Result of 12.
Wolverine wins the first grapple contest and decides to hang on. Juggernaut continues to suffer penalties while he battles the rest of the X-Men, though if he gets serious enough he'll easily be able to shrug Wolverine off.
Thoughts?
~TWF
