Combat rules for Our Games.
Have been working sorry you had to wait for a response ......
Here's (below) the basic rules I send out for my players.
The link is to the Playing Card Holder and Init Cards I use.
http://dan-frederick.deviantart.com/art/Example-549989683The short answer is NO system is perfect. NO system can be REAL. IRL I can unload a full mag of 11 rounds out of my .40 pistol in under 4 seconds (And yes hit the center of the target with each round heh). How does that translate to an RPG?
If you read the whole post keep in mind I have changed rules to fit our style of playing.
In essence combat flows faster in general. Say you are shooting a gun, it's your turn to act, you say I'm shooting twice with my 2 actions. Ok roll a D20 to strike twice. Roll damage twice. Next character.
Maybe your method works fine. It was too slow for us.
The only time things get wonky is if you have 2 actions and you decide you are running then shooting. Sometimes I have to fudge stuff around. Just cutting out extra Init rolls makes it faster. I Love the Story involved but I also Like our combat to be fast and wild, crazy and dangerous.
As it turns out, it works well for us. That's what I care about.... Works smoothly for us. You don't agree, cool and have fun mate.
The post topic was talking about revisions to attacks per melee, just tossing out my version, you don't have to use it. Also not saying your way is wrong.
Rifts & Chaos Earth Combat System & Rules
Combat:
• Declare Action*
• Roll Initiative (roll a d20)
• Take Action: Strike - Parry - Dodge - Cast - Psi Power - Move (roll a d20)
A Melee/Round:
A melee is 15 seconds.
Rounds are 5 seconds.
(So there are 3 rounds in a Melee)
Most characters have 4 to 7 attacks per melee.
Duration is most often measured in melees. Such as a spell might last X amount of melees per level of caster. More on attacks per melee and rounds below.
Dodging & Parrying:
Characters can give up an action to dodge or quite a spell to dodge.
Auto Dodge doesn't require giving up an action. There is a maximum to Auto Dodge. A character with Auto Dodge can dodge three times, beyond that requires giving up actions. * Juicer can Auto Dodge the number of attacks per melee they have with minimum of 3, round up, if your Juicer has 7 or 8 attacks then Auto Dodge is eight per melee.
Parry (most often this is only hand to hand or weapons such as swords) is a free action. Again max parry in a round is three. One does not parry bullets or energy blasts.
Called Shot to Small or Far Away Targets:
Aiming for a small target or far away target such as shooting a button long distance etc. requires a called shot. Called Shot uses whole round (if you attack 2 times per round, both attacks are used to do a Called Shot). If Sniper Skill is known by character it can be used when using a rifle (provides a plus 1 to strike, only with rifles). Extremely difficult shots fail on a roll of 10 or less. Called Shot using a pistol fails on a roll of a natural 12 or less. Rolls between 4 and 10 MAY still strike main body of your victim, GM discretion. Note that successful strike could still be dodged if target is alive and succeeds at dodge roll. Head Shots are considered Called Shots at any distance.
Natural 20 Rules:
Natural 20 to Strike does double damage.
Natural 20 to Dodge is a Auto Dodge and does not use up an action.
Natural 1-4 Rules:
Natural 1-4 always misses or fails.
Natural 1 when Striking MAY cause an adverse action to occur such as hitting own party or causing friendly fire. GM discretion, could just be you just miss, could be you drop your weapon, could be you sneeze and shoot your friend.
Spells:
Level 1-7 use whole 5 second round, level 8-10 use two rounds or 10 seconds and 11-15 uses three rounds or 15 seconds unless spell states otherwise and obviously ritual spells take much longer. GM discretion.
Say you Know the spell: Fire Ball, it's a level 5 spell, it takes 10 PPE to cast it, you as a Mage can fire off the spell three times in a Melee (15 seconds, once per round) using up 30 PPE from your personal reserve, each Fire Ball does 3d6 MD, if all three strike that's 3d6x3 MD (that's a possible 54 MD in 15 seconds!)
Players should track their own PPE uses please.
Most moderate level Mages have around 100 + PPE per level. Increases with leveling.
Regeneration of PPE was, 5 per hour of sleep or rest and 10 per hour of meditation. NOW, regeneration is 10 per hour of rest, 20 per hour of meditation, or full recharge of all PPE after 8 hours of sleep.
Psionic Powers:
Psionic powers can be used faster than magic in many cases. So if you have 5 attacks per melee you can "cast" 5 psi powers a Melee, equal to the amount of attacks per round you have. Some psi powers will vary in time depending on the power. (In regard to psi sword, you can cast it and use it in same action, Cyber Knight OCC has some additional information on their psi sword, no one is currently playing a Cyber Knight so it can wait).
Players should track their own ISP uses please.
Regeneration of ISP was 2-12 per hour depending on OCC. NOW, Minor Psionic regenerates 6 per hour. Major Psionic regenerates 12 per hour. Master Psionic regenerates 20 per hour. If Psionic character sleeps 8+ hours full regeneration of ISP.
Our game:
As combat is about to occur I will go around the table asking each of you, "What are you going to do?" Afterwards I'll have everyone roll a d20 for initiative. Based on highest to lowest roll you'll take your action(s). If needed the next melee will repeat - Declare - Roll - Take. *On occasion it won't be necessary to declare action, say if in a long combat sequence and it's obvious.
Also; I will use a playing card holder to place Initiative Cards into, you will be able to see who's turn it is this way.
Attacks per Melee:
A Round is 5 seconds.
A Melee is 15 seconds.
At the beginning of melee, before first round, initiative is rolled. Initiative is rolled at start of each melee, or again after the three rounds.
Conversion chart from attacks per melee to attacks to round is as follows:
4 attacks per melee is: 2-1-1.
5 attacks per melee is: 2-2-1.
6 attacks per melee is: 2-2-2.
7 attacks per melee is: 3-2-2.
8 attacks per melee is: 3-3-2.
No matter how many attacks per round you have see above spell info for casting times. So you may have 5 attacks per melee but you're only going to be able to cast 3 lower level spells per melee. One spell per round.
Non Mage characters might be able to do more actions than a Mage casting spells in a Melee, but spells should be able to level the playing field by being more powerful or useful than only being able to shoot a gun or swing a sword.
These rules are mine, similar to the book, but adapted for our game.
Dan