Guyon Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 I am not sure if this was the rule when I first played with version 1 a million years ago, but we are getting ready to play our first V4 game. Q: What is the reason you start combat on Seg 12? If you have a blazingly fast (High SPD) Hero, and a slow as dirt Bad Guy; They both can attack on segment 12. Why not just start on Seg 1? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinecone Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 People do it both ways..I start on 12 others start on 1....I once played where the GM started combat on the phase of the fastest character (so if you got a speed of 12 we start on one ,otherwise it was almost always phase 2)....YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhamin Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 Speed doesn't control if you can attack, it controls how many times you can compared to the other guy. When combat officially starts, everyone unloads. Speed then comes into play to figure out how it goes after that. When following the phase 12 rule, you still follow Dex order, so the fast guy will still probably go first. I for one switched from starting at phase 1 in 4th edition to starting on phase 12 in 5th. IMHO they both work fine, but the phase 12 section takes a little bit of the edge from high speed characters and gives "slow and steady" a bit more of a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpCommander Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 Starting on Seg 12 is a balance issue. It give everyone, including the Bad Guys a chance to do something. Without it things can get a little unfair. The benefits of speed kick in after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithcurtis Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 Starting on Seg 12 is a balance issue. It give everyone' date=' including the Bad Guys a chance to do something. Without it things can get a little unfair. The benefits of speed kick in after that.[/quote'] Exactly so. Because it's more fun that way. Keith "a dreaded me too poster" Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 Everyone also get a Post-Segment-12 Recovery right after their first action if you start on Segment 12, so that can make a little bit of a difference. Starting on Segment 12 is also nice if one side has surprise, so they can all attack in unison before their enemies get to act (the next Turn). I think it also makes some sense when two sides are just beginning an engagement, because at that pont everyone is ready to act (holding their actions for the moment of engagement). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guyon Posted April 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 OK I understand the rule. I guess I was thinking if the Flash fought a bad guy. He would get a few hits in long before the bad guy even got a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 OK I understand the rule. I guess I was thinking if the Flash fought a bad guy. He would get a few hits in long before the bad guy even got a chance.He still could. He could either use a Sweep maneuver on a single target or an Autofire attack. A group I used to play with had a speedster named Rambler with a DEX 53 and SPD 12, and he would often attack several times in Phase 12, then again in Phase 1, and so on. Often he could render an opponent unconscious before the opponent even got his first counterattack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Goodwin Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 Q: What is the reason you start combat on Seg 12? If you have a blazingly fast (High SPD) Hero' date=' and a slow as dirt Bad Guy; They both can attack on segment 12. Why not just start on Seg 1?[/quote'] Because the rules say to start on 12? They've said that as far back as 3rd edition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitz Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 Personally I tend to use Seg 12 as the "surprise" combat initiation segment in which everyone who isn't surprised gets to act. When nobody's surprised, I assume it to represent the sort of scene you get in wire-fu movies where everybody spends a few seconds grimacing at each other, doing flashy but pointless weapon tricks, and flexing their muscles, followed by a mutual screaming charge into combat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 It ensures everyone (who isn't suprised) gets one action before all hell breaks loose and the characters with high speed take over. Its a balance issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starwolf Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 Using your Flash example: the dreaded thug Captain slowness lays in wait for the hero, on seeing him he fires a shot from ambush. After which our hero goes into hyperspeed and cleans his clock. In this scenario Seg 12 action starts with the bad guys pre-planned attack then goes into normal phased movement...unless there are other mitigating circumstances...like danger sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Waters Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 I think it is so that it discourages characters designed to KO the opponent before they get a chance to act. Getting knocked out before you get to act is not fun. Not fun is not good game design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Re: Starting Combat on Seg 12 As said, it's generally a balance issue, with almost everyone getting to take an action and then getting post-seg 12 recoveries. If the action starts at a clear point - one side drops in on the other, or non-combat discussion leads to someone going for a gun/etc. I'll start on 12. If the PC's happen upon a scene already in progress, sometimes I'll roll a d12 to decide what segment they arrive on - get to the bank in the middle of the robbery, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.