Illusions that can inflict harm

[drunkonduty]

On 10/22/2019 at 1:57 AM, Duke Bushido said:

I don't know if there's an official rule or not, but either way, it _is_ common sense.  

 

Just like "fire doesn't burn slower / hurt less because the guy who lit it moved slowly. 

 

If a magnifying lense started a fire, what phase does the fire use to inflict damage? 

 

If 6 SPD 2 character hold actions so as to give, as a group, one attack per phase, and they use fireballs, you'd take damage every phase the fire hit you. 

 

But if all twelve of them cast and equal amount of dice worth of "Hell's Inferno" on a hex of ground, you could stand there unhurt ten out of twelve phases. 

 

Taking all that in resulted in my house rule that states such things do damage per _segment_, and not per Phase. 

 

 

How does your house rule work?

Is it full damage per segment? Do you take the damage per phase and spread it evenly over the segments? Something else?

[Duke Bushido]

EDIT:

 

in my somnambulistic stupor, I posted the original test version; we don't do it quite that way anymore.

 

Proper answer coming soon.

 

Sorry about that.

[Duke Bushido]

The original version was (dice of effect x SPD) / 12 per Segment; damage applied was rolled at one time, based on the number of segments you were "exposed."  Thus, if you ended up inside the 4D6 "Field of Flames" spell (cast by a SPD 3 character), you would take 1die if you could get out that same segment.  If you were trapped in it for 3 Segments, you took 3dice.

 

This led to nasty things like "If I hit him with Field of Fire and he's been shot in the knee and stuck there for two turns, shouldn't he take 24d6 as a lump sum damage?"

 

So it got tweaked a bit.  Base damage is still (Dice x SPD)/12.  However, this is if you are moving through the effect or entering into the effect.  If you are hit with the effect-- an AOE attack used to target you-- you will take the full damage upon a successful hit.  There is additional damage based similar to the original rule if you cannot leave the affected area immediately-- i.e., this segment or the next one. 

 

If you have to spend extended time inside-- say you have to enter and cross an area that's filled with fire for some noble and heroic reason-- you will take full damage that segment, and no more if you can make it back out.  The penalty for "still being there" the next segment (or several segments) is the greater of one die or (dice x SPD)/12.  That damage is rolled and applied against relevant DEF.  The next consecutive segment, that number doubles (and is rolled and applied), and doubles (and is rolled and applied) again each consecutive Segment, not to exceed the maximum dice of the power / spell. 

 

[Hugh Neilson]

While I see the logic that Pyromancer Pete's flame wall should do damage every segment, not just when his 3 SPD kicks in, the same logic suggests that Fighter Frank's 9" of Running is really 36" per turn (given his 4 SPD) , so he should be able to move 3" per segment.  That way, when Frank attacks Pete on Segment 3, and Pete backs away and raises a Wall of Flame, Frank is not stuck in the fire until his phase comes up on Segment 6 because we let Pete's continuous damage, but not Franks continuous movement, be effective every segment.

 

Phases and segments just chunk things that are happening simultaneously into discrete junks for game resolution..

[Duke Bushido]

Yep; totally get that--and when we're doing big field combat, I tend to break movement up into segments as well. 

 

The house rule was to resolve a Davien-related tactical issue:  

 

"I've been 'hit' by the Field of Flames speel (dammit!  That's what it was called!  Finally remembered it!) and I've deduced that the guy with the wand has an SPD3, and if I stand here in the middle of it for the next two segments, the SPD4 guy with the sword will have to either hold or find a new target, but I can still use my mercurial sandals to get out of here before i get hit again.... "

 

 

Yeah- that's way more irritating than you can imagine. 

[ScottishFox]

20 hours ago, Hugh Neilson said:

While I see the logic that Pyromancer Pete's flame wall should do damage every segment, not just when his 3 SPD kicks in, the same logic suggests that Fighter Frank's 9" of Running is really 36" per turn (given his 4 SPD) , so he should be able to move 3" per segment.  That way, when Frank attacks Pete on Segment 3, and Pete backs away and raises a Wall of Flame, Frank is not stuck in the fire until his phase comes up on Segment 6 because we let Pete's continuous damage, but not Franks continuous movement, be effective every segment.

 

Phases and segments just chunk things that are happening simultaneously into discrete junks for game resolution..

 

In my late 80s / early 90s game we experimented with per segment movement.  It made things like holding a defensive line more possible, but it was a LOT of work.

(Movement x SPD)/12 = Movement per Segment.  You could move at full speed up to 1/2 your total distance and use a Half-Phase or up to total distance if you were doing a Move Through/By.

 

I really like this in computer RPGs where it is real-time movement with pause for commands as it makes it much harder for enemies to just walk around your front line and smash your back line.

 

The balance between realism and playability is a tricky thing, but sometimes the very chunky chess like moves result in comically bad scenarios.

[Duke Bushido]

Yes:  like standing harmlessly in a fire because the arsonist's phase hasn't come around yet. 

 

As noted above, I really o KY do segmented movement when the field is big enough and movements high enough that it makes absurdism possible using the traditional rules: mass dog fights in the air, for example.