Almost correct, though now Rade is room 3 the action between leaving the room and getting to the starting point might be important- if Castor hads gotten out that door, though, nothing could have stopped him.
BTW, it's still only Heph and Virus who can act- this turn Cloud got the flag, Rade ran in. But your planned actions are noted!
I do heva to say it is not good. Because- and I hate to doom him, but it's so going to happen- Ares will not survive this action. That won't help the ammoless Virus and close combat Heph catch you, but it does mean he cannot help you.
(light goes on in Ush's brain)
Of course! Only Rade and Cloud are relevant now! Virus and Heph will beat Ares for sure but then their involvement is done! Ok, let's move on!
We're leaving combat time now guys- this is just a Rade/Cloud race. Everyone else is done.
Ok. You guys both have full focus now. Rade has 26 damage, Cloud 36.
Rade shoots- I think 3 bursts is good.
Cloud, you can Shell of the Turtle to try and dodge.
Doh... Rade rolls +3. +2 for the bursts. -1 for his wound. 17 in total. Cloud, your defence- with the flag recucing your skill- is 15. Rade hits, for seven damage.
Cloud -4 on your death check says you don't make it.
Well now... I guess that is it! Fire's team wins, but it was damn close run thing. Well done, everyone!
Post Mortem
Well, I think that test went as well as I could have hoped!
From an organisational point of view, it went fine. The whole system of banking actions to allow things to move on- whilst obviously not 100% perfect- worked well enough to keep the fight intact. Only once did anyone ever miss so much that they actively lost an action- that was Dexx. Other than that, common sense and a little patience allowed everyone else to act at least as much as everyone else- even if rather late sometimes.
From the point of view of players learning the rules- I did not expect everyone to be 100% utterly familiar with the system. But by the end of the fight I was pretty sure that everyone at least had it in their mind at least several options of what they could do at any one time. No-one really spent any point doing continuous illegal actions, you all tried hard and did well. The only attempted actions that really did not work were due to the inevitable confusion of such a large fight!
Still, to clear up some misconceptions:
1. Burst fire from automatic weapons can be used to hit more than one target by splitting the bursts. You can fire up to six bursts, each burst past the first gives you +1 to hit. However, you cannot get more than +3 to hit, so that is why I said it was no good firing more than four bursts on one target. You could still fire more than 4 bursts in general- just not at only one person. Bursts are in three rounds, so a single burst is the same as firing three bullets. Non-automatic weapons can fire up to three bullets, no bursts, at one target only- Both Guns Blazing not withstanding.
2. Defending does not take an action. You get automatic defences for every attack made on you- the theoretical number you can take is effectively infinite. If 100 people attacked you in a round, you would get 100 defences. However, if you dodge when you defend (as opposed to just saying ‘Defend’ or ‘Avoid’ for Martial Arts and Gun attacks respectively, which is what you automatically do by default) you gain exertion so you can lose actions from defending that way.
3. Willow Step basically does a crap dodge but a dodge against everything- it is for use against many attackers. Many people got into the habit of Willow Stepping but then used it when facing only one opponent as well- a standard, every day, no focus dodge works better in such a situation- and indeed, I turned such instructions into simple dodges. I try not to chain you down whilst still learning! The power that does a standard quality dodge against all enemies is Vertical Dodge, but it is pricey and requires vertical surface. Other dodge powers do better dodges against single attacks.
4. Once in a close combat fight you cannot take non-combat actions- that is normally trying to move on, or shoot someone outside the fight. However, you are not stuck with only fighting the person you attacked or attacked you- you can try and hit anyone nearby. A number of people exercised the option to flee and took the bonus attack this caused on them on the chin. Worth nothing that the bonus attack people get if someone flees can be Focussed like any other- so maybe people might want to leave conditionals in future, like “If x flees I’ll hit him with power y”? And remember a fleeing person cannot dodge! I really want it to be that leaving a fight without putting your opponent solidly down first is a bad idea.
Meanwhile, here are some things I think people learned:
1. Mundanes with automatic weapons are dangerous! The comparison between the policemen and the SWAT team was enormous- and all down to how they were equipped. Firing on maximum burst fire, those guys still found it very hard to hit you, but with so MANY of them, it was bound to happen! Some people suffered very badly from them, taking over half their damage from SWATs. This I think reflects well- they do worry about SWAT teams in the films! Neo and Trinity did a very careful attack on the one that came to face them- and they are damn good, of course! Quite a few people ended up still just standing out in the open, and they got hit for it.
2. Dodging is essential! I am sure all of you have a healthy respect for defensive powers now. In particular, if Castor had had Path of the Storm Turtle at advanced, Coeus would have won easily as no gun attack could have hit him as he retreated. Some of you who had defensive powers used them very well.
3. Gunners fall apart up close. I think you knew that already, but we saw it rather unpleasantly in action. Poor Burn actually had some close combat back-up- but whilst that might have served well against many things, he needed more than emergency back-up against a Close Combat monster like Heph!
4. Skill is also vital. Cloud, I have to say, cool as you are, I really think you need Martial Arts at 14. I think you took at least two extra hits from low skill, and failed to drop a couple of things likewise. Skill has a very good payback to it.
Anything else people learned? Please feel free to say! There were also interesting points about strategy, teamwork, focussing on objectives, adapting to things going wrong, and so on…
I hope people got the hang of the powers at their disposal, and saw the difference between a Dojo and a Combat environment. For example, Eagle Eye- useless in the Dojo- was almost essential here.
By contrast, Both Guns Blazing lost out a little. Virus finally made good use of it at the end- able to shoot people with her small guns doing the same damage as Ares was with his large. Of course, you could ask- why bother with BGB when you can just take an assault rifle? The answer is that an assault rifle is not easy to take with you everywhere. The point of BGB is that it allows you to take small, convenient weapons for wasting Mundanes AND combine them to be able to do as much damage as a large weapon. If you can easily take large weapons anyway, it becomes less useful- but then, Eagle Eye is useless if you are fighting in a field, and Coppertop Killer is no good against anyone who is not a Mundane. It’s all down to situation.
Here is my analysis of the course of the battle:
Coeus began with a risk- sending two of his team down to try and rear-attack Fire’s- though he went himself, which was inspiring! Splitting himself and Ares as they went down the building sides was a possible problem- if Fire and Rade had jumped Area as he got close he would have been buggered! Always stick together unless you have good reason not to- Coeus had reason to split his team, but nothing to gain by further dividing himself and Ares.
Fire kept himself and Rade outside as Coeus and Ares came. I believe Fire wanted to lure them along. But I think Coeus would have come anyway, and Fire and Rade might have done better simply aiding their team from the start.
The assault on the cops was messy but everyone was learning and the cops weren’t a big threat so it did not matter. Everyone had the hang by the end with minor damage- exactly how I wanted it.
Coeus’ gamble just about failed, and then just about paid off! They got into a position to attack Fire’s team just as they got into room 2 where Coeus and Ares would have been able to attack them anyway. Some tactical confusion led to Ares clipping Rade with a shot (before Rade worked out that he could Natural Order gun attacks) so it was worth something, but on the whole the tactic failed.
Or did it? Battle is often ironic like this, and as it was the tactic was a great success. Because Coeus and Ares were not helping their friends kill the cops, Fire’s team got into room 2 first- and their attack on the SWATs in the first turn went VERY badly. Before that point I was worried that Fire would run away with the game, but in that one action- where his team took enough combined damage to make a player roll a death check- the whole thing was suddenly evened up.
Unfortunately things went wrong for Coeus’ team again very soon. Coeus put into action a plan to decapitate Fire’s team, zoning in an attack on Fire. He would attack from the South and Burn would close in from the North, as Fire recovered from his harrowing and damaging fight with the SWATs on the West Side.
But Fire- exercising a mentality that he always does- took the fight TO Coeus. This is the classic weakness of the pincer movement, when one pincer is attacked in force before the other. Fire brought the badly wounded Mors with him. Then everything spilled over- Burn had been intending to meet up with Coeus. Instead, before he could GET to Coeus, he was intercepted by Heph. Burn, a gunner, found himself assailed by a Close Combat specialist, with NO friends nearby- the absolutely worst situation he could be in, one that I am sure he will never allow to be repeated inside the Matrix. He suffered badly.
We then had an interesting interplay with Virus and Ares. I had assumed Ares would aid Coeus with the attack on fire. Instead, Ares started firing at SWATs- this was not a waste of time, but not the most relevant thing to do at that moment, I think. Then, Virus and Ares started exchanging fire. Whilst they both scored hits- again, before they realised how easily they could evade gun attacks!- I think this achieved little. This could be demonstrated- as soon as Virus switched her fire instead to Coeus, Coeus was in SEVERE trouble. If Ares had been putting six bursts a round into aiding Coeus- three at Fire, three at Mors- it might have gone very differently.
But as it was, Coeus was doomed- unsupported, three players against one, and without enough Focus to defend himself. He did the only thing possible- to stick it out, tie up his enemy, and try and take out the badly wounded Mors on the way, which he did.
Now the game was going Coeus’ way and a sudden victory looked imminent. For whilst he had found himself the ironic victim of his own plan- decapitation of a team leader- his soldiers Cloud and Castor had been quietly dispatching the North and East SWAT guys in preparation for a flag grab. Only Fire’s team mate Rade, who had jumped up to the Southern Balcony to deal with the other SWAT group- was in any position to stop them taking it and running to victory.
The next turn was filled with the most obscene bad luck. Well, Cloud got hit again- that was not great bad luck, because he was developing a habit of doing that. But then Castor- with the luck of the Gods he named himself after before then- suddenly ran out of luck and took two very bad hits. He then missed an action, banking it- the action to go for the flag.
At this point, Ares moved forwards and attacked SWATs again. But he split his fire north and south, killing one on each. Cloud was grateful for one of his targets to go- but not half as grateful as Rade, who so did not expect his enemy to make his life easier that he still posted the attack on a SWAT guy now already dead!
Rade would have happily spent time killing that last SWAT guy. Instead he was able to move and attack Castor as he made his flag grab. Castor took 9 damage fleeing Rade. If Castor had been present rather than banking that action, or if Ares had not shot that last SWAT guy at the south side, Castor would have gotten away clean, and not failed the death check that killed him.
No criticism is implied- Vincent was busy in real life and Rex could have had no idea how much effect such a seemingly innocuous action could have had! But maybe a small lesson there about always thinking about the possible long term consequences of your actions- if possible!
Coeus came very close to passing another death check- but he did not. Fire was able to move his entire team on Castor before he could escape, and so began the vast brawl that ended the match.
Castor, as all of you know, made it out, before being gunned down by Rade, three actions from safety and victory. Castor and Rade both took great risks to leave combat and do what they did- but if Castor had had Natural Order, Rade could not have hit him, and no-one could have caught him. In a way, I am thankful- this has been a very apt demonstration of why it does not do to look down too much at gun users!
Still, the brawl saw much happen- Burn, who had heroically escaped combat before, was finally overpowered, and Fire, always in the front lines, was also overcome. But with Castor gunned down as well, Coeus’ team was left with just Cloud and Ares, Cloud still playing well but underskilled, and Ares a gun specialist surrounded by two all-rounders and a combat specialist- Heph. Heph, via good use of focus powers, was barely wounded!
From that point on, Coeus’s team was never going to make it. Cloud made a brave attempt for the flag but Rade caught and killed him. Ares would have had no chance against the others, and so the scenario ends there.
Fire’s team wins- but such a close match! If you ask me, you all won, in that you have all benefited, in the medium of experience, from the scenario. Well done, and thanks to you all!
NOTE TO ALL!
Version 1.3 of the rules- the one you will take on Assignment- is here!
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1.3 Changes:
The Combat Reference area has been changed, tidied up and is now easier to understand, also explaining Prone, Fleeing, and other small things that were not clear before.
Rounds now last FIVE actions, so be careful with your Focus.
The Paths have received changes. They are now easier to understand, with the costs given in uniform format at the end. More powers are in, some effects have changed. I recommend people go check.
The Leaping Storm powers that used to work with Swords now work with ALL weapons. And my apologies to users of Water Sword (now Water Weapon), for which I had tried to predict its change halfway through its development cycle and got it wrong, so its effect has changed again!
Passive Wings has gone to the full, rather than simplified, version.
What powers can be used to Modify others is now more clear. NOTE- the Sharpened Scales Path has LOST most of its modification ability. Its main purpose is now that it can be used with just about anything- Punches, Kicks or Weapons. It is very flexible and gives extra options now that using the same power more than once in a round is tricky.
The term ‘Predictable’ has appeared in the Paths. Predictable Path attacks are harder to hit with if you use them several times in the same round.
Many Focus powers now cost more if you have already used them in the same round- especially defensive powers.
The Path of the Defiant Farmer is now in! For the use of nunchukas. Right now it is a little small but it will grow.
More Paths now have Master levels- including some new powers, and some powers that were once Advanced becoming Master instead.
The Path of the Standing Monk has become the Path of the Crouching Monk. Its purpose has changed- it allows you to defend yourself whilst Prone. I wonder if Burn will look at this?
Gun Tricks now all have Master levels. Master Level in a Gun Trick costs 6.
Guns now have a ‘Mundane Killing Power’ rating so you know how good they are at killing Mundanes.
The Bulk and Encumbrance rules have changed but you will see them on Assignment.
Sniper Rifle is now in, but don’t get TOO excited…
The Natural now has the same Focus limit as everyone else- 15. Having it past that seemed abusive. So, down to 15 for you, Heph, but some free space opened up!
The various different 'speeds' of actions for the exertion system has been expanded.
No changes to the Download system, not this time! But some of you may wish to change your spending now, what with new Master powers and Tricks.
Ok, the one thing i have to say, is, always read and see what everyone else has done, and try to piece it together in your mind, before you attack anyone. I myself have messed up this way, as has most everyone else. look at where everyone is, pay attention to your surroundings, and you will do fine. Perfect example of this was Ares shooting Rade's SWAT. I'm not calling you out, Rex, just showing what happens. Its like Ush said, every little thing you do has IMMENSE consequences that you may not see until hindsight. When we are out in the field, you have to pay attention to everything. Alright, everyone, and i mean both teams, to the bar, a drink for everyone before the Shez heads out. We all fought excelently, and this is my reward for everyone. CHEERS!!
WEEEEEEEEEEE SNIPER RIFLE!!!!!!!!! *gets really excited* *reads the rest**calms down*
ok the number one thing we learned here is
COVER GUN PPL"S ASSES!!!
if i had decent cover we would have swept, cus i could have helped out in cloeus battle, and other stuff
ok nuf of that, other than that Good fight all!
*Bows*