Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Classic Traveller: Combat

There's a lot of stuff different between CT and Mongoose in combat...
  • As I mentioned last time, surprise is straight out of old-school D&D.
  • Range bands are, I think, clearer but lower-detail than in the Mongoose version.  Mongoose wants to be played on a grid; CT asks for instead a sheet of lined notebook paper.
  • No initiative system that I can see.  Looks like "everyone makes declared moves, everyone designates a target and fires simultaneously".
  • Evading, as an action, is a lot simpler than the MgT's reaction system.
  • MgT's random first blood optional rule is in effect.
  • Not seeing anything about effect being a bonus to damage.  Or effect being a thing anywhere, ever.
  • Characters who are unconscious, but not seriously wounded (so one stat at 0, rather than two) heal off half of their damage when they wake up (!).  Not clear if this is intended to apply to characters who didn't fall unconscious in the first place, but that's kinda nice.  (Characters who are seriously wounded, naturally, get the shaft and need medical attention)
  • Much is made of only making a number of full-strength melee attacks equal to one's Endurance, and then being weakened.  This rule is in MgT somewhere, but not nearly as emphasized.
  • Parrying is automatic when engaged in melee, doesn't require/p  a reaction.
  • Encumbrance seems slightly more merciful?  Endurance doesn't effect carrying capacity, so your base light load is lower, but the penalties for going over it are a lot less terrible (effective reduction of physical stats by 1 point at up to x2 points, 2 points up to x3, whereas in MgT being overencumbered means you're going to collapse in a couple minutes)
  • Morale!  It's a thing, and Leadership and Tactics influence it.
  • Weapon weights are given in grams, and all the firearms have muzzle velocities.  I sense that this may have been written by engineers?  Their sword weights are actually sorta reasonable (broadsword at 2.5kg -> ~5.5 lbs is a bit high, but foil at 500g is pretty reasonable)
  • Armor does not encumber.  Seems like there are fewer types of armor, too.
  • As mentioned previously, weapons have a min str/dex to wield, a penalty for not having that much, an advantageous str/dex to wield, and a bonus for having at least that much.  These replace stat DMs.  Sorta interesting.
  • Weapon vs armor tables. Very retro.  Apparently armor isn't DR, but instead makes you harder to hit.  Also laser weapons are not the ridiculous armor-killers they are in MgT; they do a lot of damage (4-5d6), but have a hard time punching through combat armor (-6 to hit) compared to an autorifle (-3 to hit).  This sort of "all or nothing" damage system is definitely suited to vehicle combat, but I'm not so sure about personal combat.
  • Individual range DMs by weapon rather than by a weapon class (eg Assault Weapon range class in Mongoose).  Sights, folding stocks, and rifle stocks for pistols alter how weapons perform at various ranges.
  • In short, weapon selection is a lot more nuanced (read: complicated) than "gimme the highest damage with the biggest clip at the lowest weight".

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