Handling Player Combat Frustration

[NobbyTheKing]

When a enforcer level fatemaster character is engaged in combat, did you find that the fight can sometimes go on past the point where the players were getting a bit bored of repeatedly kicking someone until they triggered the right critical effect to end the fight.

Has anyone else found this?

Otherwise, the combat system in this game is a lot of fun :-D

[Mason]

1 hour ago, NobbyTheKing said:

When a enforcer level fatemaster character is engaged in combat, did you find that the fight can sometimes go on past the point where the players were getting a bit bored of repeatedly kicking someone until they triggered the right critical effect to end the fight.

Has anyone else found this?

Otherwise, the combat system in this game is a lot of fun :-D

Are you adding the negative Wound total of the target to the result of their Critical Effect results?

With the Quick Play / TTB 2.0 charts, it only takes a 15 to get bumped up to the next highest chart, and that usually results in a somewhat grisly end once you hit the Severe chart.

[Snoutopus]

When it comes to intelligent opponents, if they're not the Fight-to-the-death types, parlaying/surrendering/fleeing is also something to always consider. 

[EnternalVoid]

5 hours ago, Mason said:

Are you adding the negative Wound total of the target to the result of their Critical Effect results?

With the Quick Play / TTB 2.0 charts, it only takes a 15 to get bumped up to the next highest chart, and that usually results in a somewhat grisly end once you hit the Severe chart.

You just made me think of our last session... that was... messy.  Will not say any more as it was a Stitch in Time game and don't want to spoil it but I am pretty sure if it had been me I would have been asking for them to just kill me already.

[NobbyTheKing]

On 21/03/2017 at 6:12 PM, Mason said:

Are you adding the negative Wound total of the target to the result of their Critical Effect results?

With the Quick Play / TTB 2.0 charts, it only takes a 15 to get bumped up to the next highest chart, and that usually results in a somewhat grisly end once you hit the Severe chart.

Ah, so let me see if I've got this right:

The opponent is at -17 wounds.

I flip for damage, and it's a weak critical effect, so that means that it'll be bumped up to medium. On the next table, would it work out as a value of 2 to start off with, then adding the flip?

In order to kill something outright, flipping a weak critical effect would need to be at around -35 wounds to get onto a "killzone" location on the severe critical table, then hope for a value high enough to kill. 

That said though, this would be hilarious.

[Mason]

3 hours ago, NobbyTheKing said:

Ah, so let me see if I've got this right:

The opponent is at -17 wounds.

I flip for damage, and it's a weak critical effect, so that means that it'll be bumped up to medium. On the next table, would it work out as a value of 2 to start off with, then adding the flip?

In order to kill something outright, flipping a weak critical effect would need to be at around -35 wounds to get onto a "killzone" location on the severe critical table, then hope for a value high enough to kill. 

That said though, this would be hilarious.

The opponent is at -15 wounds.

You shoot them with a pistol and deal Weak damage (2 damage). Now the opponent is at -17 wounds.

Since the opponent is at negative wounds, you generated a critical effect. You flip a card for the critical effect (a 3!) and consult the weak critical effect chart, since you dealt weak damage. You add the opponent's negative wounds (17) to this total to get a 20. The weak critical effect chart says that a 15+ generates a new critical effect on the moderate table.

You flip a card for the critical effect on the moderate table (a 4!). You add the opponent's negative wounds (17) to this total to get a 21. The moderate critical effect chart says that a 15+ generates a new critical effect on the severe table.

You flip a card for the critical effect on the severe table (a 2!). You add the opponent's negative wounds (17) to this total to get an 19. The severe critical effect chart says that a 19 results in an amputation. One of the opponent's limbs (as determined by the suit of the card you flipped) is permanently destroyed.

[NobbyTheKing]

Ah! I just used the numbers to work through the tables upwards, as opposed to reflipping. I thought it would have to add each cumulative value from the previous chart, so that i.e. if you were at -17 wounds, it would just spill onto the next table without a reflip.

I seem to be illiterate.

Thanks for all the help!

[EnternalVoid]

Mason's example is pretty much what happened in our last session.  The man baddie had gotten an early RJ leaving him hurt and a player managed to get a clear shot, focused, and hit him with a pistol, cheat a severe.  Was just enough to knock him below 0 and get a decent crit on him.  Then the guy got hit by a harpoon... flipped weak damage but with the other injury the flip was high enough to go to moderate.  Then was high enough to go to severe, then an RJ on Severe.  Had his arm ripped off by the Harpoon.  But he was still in there.

So the next two people charged him and his injuries just skyrocketed due to the negative wound count.  Last hit was a weak that was at a -15 so went strait to smashing his leg off.  Guy likely was asking for death by that point.

[bertmac]

On 4/7/2017 at 11:10 PM, EnternalVoid said:

Mason's example is pretty much what happened in our last session.  The man baddie had gotten an early RJ leaving him hurt and a player managed to get a clear shot, focused, and hit him with a pistol, cheat a severe.  Was just enough to knock him below 0 and get a decent crit on him.  Then the guy got hit by a harpoon... flipped weak damage but with the other injury the flip was high enough to go to moderate.  Then was high enough to go to severe, then an RJ on Severe.  Had his arm ripped off by the Harpoon.  But he was still in there.

So the next two people charged him and his injuries just skyrocketed due to the negative wound count.  Last hit was a weak that was at a -15 so went strait to smashing his leg off.  Guy likely was asking for death by that point.

Just a flesh wound!

[Mason]

It's also worth mentioning that in the full rules, Critical Effects migrate toward the body. If you generate a Critical Effect against a location that doesn't exist, the Critical Effect shifts toward the Chest.

For instance, if you're shooting at someone who has had both arms amputated and generate an "Arm" location, the Critical Effect moves to the target's chest.

Similarly, if you're fighting a giant snake, any results that hit an "Arm" or a "Leg" - which don't exist on a giant snake - will instead affect its Chest.

[Sernus]

I'd like to add just a suggestion for Fatemasters, especially the relatively newer FMs, based on my own experiences across many years game-mastering many different RPGs (and yes: I'm much older than dirt, I freely admit):

 

If you feel like that last injury probably should've killed that NPC Boss Guy/Gal/Critter/Thing.... then just declare it dead, and let the players game on!