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combat formula


steph

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Just curious,

 

What is the combat formula you use in your game. For  me the easy and fasted way is This:

11+ (OCV-DCV)= your roll

 

EX 11+ OCV 5 - DCV 5 = roll 11-

EX 11+ OCV 6 - DCV 5 = roll 12-

EX 11 + OCV 4 - DCV 6 = roll  9-

 

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Steph

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Just curious,

 

What is the combat formula you use in your game. For  me the easy and fasted way is This:

11+ (OCV-DCV)= your roll

 

EX 11+ OCV 5 - DCV 5 = roll 11-

EX 11+ OCV 6 - DCV 5 = roll 12-

EX 11 + OCV 4 - DCV 6 = roll  9-

 

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Steph

Most (but not all) games in which I've played are run by GMs who do not wish to tell the players the DCVs of their various villians/agents, as doing so could unduly influence the approaches the characters take.  As a result, I tend to experience the combat formula as follows:

 

11 + OCV - 3d6DiceTotal = DCV_that_would_be_hit

 

The GMs then tend to ask for damage totals and tell the players in detail what happened (by describing either the hit on the target after defenses ... or the miss and damage to whatever was struck instead of the target).

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I switched to 11 + OCV - 3d6 = DCV maybe 10 years ago. Took awhile to recalibrate my brain, after having used 11 + OCV - DCV = 3d6 for so many years, but I've never looked back. The chief advantages IMO:

  • You don't have to tell players the target's DCV.
  • It's closer to what players have come to expect from most other RPGs. (Except you're rolling low instead of high.)
  • You can pre-add [11 + OCV] on the character sheet as an Attack Roll (14- or whatever).
  • That makes Attack Rolls work the same way as Skill & Char Rolls, which makes it much easier to teach to new players.

The only downside I've seen comes when I get a fellow "old-timer" at the table who's used to the Old School method and gets confused at first.

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I'd say 11 + OCV - 3d6 = CV hit, ordered different from Tasha solely because the character sheet can combine "11 + OCV" into a single number for ease of reference.

 

As for working out the DCV, the same thing happens in d20. "Well, a 17 missed and a 21 hit, so we know its AC is somewhere in that range". The characters are scoping out how skilled the opponent is as the combat proceeds - that seems OK.

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I'd say 11 + OCV - 3d6 = CV hit, ordered different from Tasha solely because the character sheet can combine "11 + OCV" into a single number for ease of reference.

 

As for working out the DCV, the same thing happens in d20. "Well, a 17 missed and a 21 hit, so we know its AC is somewhere in that range". The characters are scoping out how skilled the opponent is as the combat proceeds - that seems OK.

Exactly. I don't have a problem with them working it out at some point, I just prefer it to be a bit more organic than announcing "His DCV is 5" up front.

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Exactly. I don't have a problem with them working it out at some point, I just prefer it to be a bit more organic than announcing "His DCV is 5" up front.

It usually becomes clear about where the DCV is ... but as a player I find it more interesting when the team has no idea as the combat commences.

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Yeah we've used that for a while now, mostly because it lets the player just tell me what they hit and then the DCV is somewhat uncertain.  Plus this system allows you to simply put a roll next to a combat maneuver on the character sheet for new players.  Fast Strike is +2 OCV, but if someone has a 7 OCV to begin with, then you can just put 20- on their character sheet.  Then the player can just say how much they made their roll by, and not need to know all the details right away.

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Put me down as another in the '11 + OCV - 3d6 = DCV hit' camp for the same reasons as others. 

 

I've found that the pre-calculation of 11 + OCV = Target Number makes it easier for newer players to grok what they need to hit.  The only time there's been in confusion is in adjusting for situations where you're half/zero OCV.  For that reason, I have a combat section on the character sheet that looks like this:

       OCV       Target

       ---       ------

Full    10 (+11)  21-

Half     5 (+11)  16-

Zero     0 (+11)  11-

and I leave combat maneuvers with their traditional +x OCV +y DCV notations.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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