5th ed question: Knockback and Combat

[Tech]

Hi all. Had a thought and wanted your thoughts on a combat manuever.

 

Just for this conversation, let's assume a villain was knocked back 12" by a hero.  A second hero is waiting 6" away from the knockbacked villain and as the villain reaches the second hero, that hero punches the villain for 10d6. What kind of damage are we talking happening to the villain?

[Greywind]

10d6.

[Hyper-Man]

IF the 2nd Hero happens to be close to the trajectory of the villain's knockback path, THEN they could certainly attempt a Move By or Move Through Maneuver and use the villain's velocity to add to the damage damage (I'm not sure how to figure out what the velocity would actually be - This would be important for figuring out the OCV penalty for a Move Through).  This runs the risk of the 2nd Hero taking damage though - especially if they attempt a Move Through and don't also do Knockback with their attack as well.

[Christopher R Taylor]

I would assess a +6d6 knockback effect as well (for hitting the second hero's fist but losing momentum over space) if this can be pulled off.  It would, however, require a teamwork roll and possibly a penalty to OCV to get it just right.

[massey]

I think you roll a 12D6 attack (for the knockback) and a 10D6 attack (for the attacking hero).  I'd combine any Stun that got through Def for Stunning purposes.

[Grailknight]

First off, unless the 2nd hero has a held action he just watches the victim fly by. Can't abort to an offensive action or act out of turn.

 

If he has one he can attack the victim for 10d6 or Martial Throw him onto the nearest hard surface and add the KB together. 

 

If the attacker who did the 12" KB made an attack roll to strike the 2nd hero with the victim, he could perform the Martial Throw or another defensive action without a held action as an Abort.( If he misses they'll both take the 12" KB  from the collision. Thanks buddy  )

[bigdamnhero]

Interesting question, and very "genre." First, I'd say you'd need a Held Action and a Teamwork Roll to attempt it.

 

I tend to follow "Rule Of Cool," which says the players shouldn't generally be penalized for doing something clever. The default for this situation would be to let the villain hit the wall for 12d6, and then have Hero #2 punch him for 10d6 as a separate attack, right? So their clever combo-attack shouldn't do less than that - assuming they pull it off. Based on that logic, at a minimum the villain should take both sets of damage, treated as a Coordinated Attack. I think I would likely let Hero #2 add velocity damage as per a Move By, maybe even as per a Move Through if Hero #2 really aced his Coordination Roll.

 

The risk of trying to be clever: if Hero #2 misses their Coordination Roll, or misses their attack roll, or fails to do any KB, then Hero #2 takes the 12d6 Knockback damage!

[Lucius]

IF the 2nd Hero happens to be close to the trajectory of the villain's knockback path, THEN they could certainly attempt a Move By or Move Through Maneuver and use the villain's velocity to add to the damage damage (I'm not sure how to figure out what the velocity would actually be - This would be important for figuring out the OCV penalty for a Move Through).  This runs the risk of the 2nd Hero taking damage though - especially if they attempt a Move Through and don't also do Knockback with their attack as well.a

 

I'd use the knockbackee's knockback damage and figure the velocity is whatever velocity would add that much damage to a Move Through.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Excuse me, gotta run before the palindromedary does a Move Through on ME

[Christopher R Taylor]

For me, this is a combination of the "rule of cool" that bigdamnhero mentions (in which you reward players for having cool ideas that enhances everyone's fun and encourages them to be creative), and the rule involving coordinating knockback from opposite directions.

[Tech]

Thank you all. I agree that the "rule of cool" in this case surpasses any actual rule.