xylden76

Hello, I seek to clarify some rules trouble at my table regarding attacking from behind. I've done a search in three forums for "Behind" but came up nothing, so here goes... At my table, as we've played in the past, anytime someone has a shot at your back, that PC/NPC is at half DCV to that attacker. A player brought up a decent point that as of yet I cannot refute. We cannot find any concrete description as to what behind means, and 6E2, 37 has the DCV modifier table listing 'attacked from behind' with the 'surprised' tag attached to it, but nothing indicating 'behind' as a standalone modifier. Now enter my counter argument - enter Defense Maneuver I. 6E1, 74. "No attacker is considered to be attacking from behind." This statement leads me to believe that behind is at any point, 'surprised' notwithstanding. To me it indicates that it's harder to avoid attacks originating from the rear as it's harder to perceive the attacks. It also indicates to me that otherwise, Defense Maneuver I serves no purpose, as why would you spend a half phase action to activate this power IF it only prevents you from being surprised, which has it's own category of rules. In addition, the first para of 6E1, 75 states "a character with Defense Maneuver (at any level) can still be Surprised. Def Man eliminates the possibility of being attacked from behind, it does not make a character immune to being surprised. I think this is the most concrete evidence there is to support my claim. is there anything else out there that I'm missing, in support of either arguement? lastly, what would the 'behind' scenario entail? On a clock scale, would it be the 5-7 or 4-8? thanks in advance!

Surrealone, thanks for your reply, gives us a lot to think about. But given your outlined procedures above, essentially you are saying that: Given DCV 6, I want to use Multi Attack to strike two different targets, knowing that I will have an adjusted DCV 3 (for using MA). I can then buy CSLs to return to DCV 6, but apparently vs ranged only?

Reading the PSLs description in 6E1, 87, it doesn't appear that we can use PSLs to 'reduce the 1/2 DCV penalty' induced on things like using Multi-Attack or to offset a particular Combat Maneuver. Is this correct? i'm having a discussion at our table and half say it is, while others like me believe it is not possible. thoughts?

Does Herogames have a discord channel? If so, can I get the link? If not I think it'll really expedite the transfer of information for gamers.

As I recall, an attack action ends your phase. However, in 5e, you could use Rapid Attack to shoot first, then move. This no longer appears to be the case in 6e. Is there any way to make an attack action, like firing a pistol and then moving?

to all, I just got back home. This is just my third post overall as I am a new GM to the system. Thanks for all the incredible feedback, all of which was very sound and none of it debasing to a 'newb.' If I can, I'll put the encounter into a framework - and I feel like Hugh was at my table last night with his response, it seemed so on point with us last night. So, having saved the target from elimination from a public nightclub, the team rushed their 'client' to a safehouse; a chemical facility, deep into the night awaiting extraction. The encounter setup was a 4th team member who couldn't show last night waited in the vehicle (GM opportunity to cause confusion). When they lost contact with their unavailable driver they split the group - and after a team member was returning from the car to the rest of the party he was pounced upon (surprised) on a metal scaffold at the top of the stairs and shoved the player down the stairs, and fled into the night using stealth. Another Team member left the client to assist and he (just as Hugh predicted) took a legsweep to the head (I do use hit locations, the players love it) and folded quickly due to the stun modifier, and I felt like the players just couldn't recover. I knew the team was in trouble so I had him flee again, only to backtrack under the guise that "I can take this team." This flee was aimed to allow them time to recover, but it honestly appeared to have come down to hit locations from there. The brute tended to strike the torso more than the team, who only hit the brute's extremities so the stun factor appeared to be in the Brute's favor strictly due to rolls. In the end, he killed one while the other two fled. I wasn't sure if this was solid, thus my reaching out to the community. Brute: OCV 7, DCV 7, SPD 4, rPD 5 - 7with vest; team:2x OCV 7, DCV 6, SPD 4, rPD3 - 5 with vest 1x OCV 7, DCV 5, SPD 4, rPD3 - 5 with vest The only true advantage I gave the Brute was +4 CSLs with his legsweep and +2 CSLs with his sword figuring these increases to dmg and the extra 2 rPD would offset the advantage from the 3:1 odds. because I'm a stat nerd, I do intend to use Cantriped's CR formula this weekend to determine where on the spectrum the landed in reference to the Brute. Last comment, Brute also has several non-combat skills, so he wasn't a complete Terminator. thanks for all your time guys, I valued everyone's input.

So this weekend I had my party of three players, each just above the 160cp mark go up against one brute at 201cp. In general terms is 3x160 on par with a 201? I ask because, well, rolls kicked their ass. The brute landed more of hits granting better stun effects whereas the team kept hitting extremities. The end result was one KIA and the other two fled, and there were five knockouts between the three players. thoughts?

thanks for the feedback! This gives us lots to work with and I appreciate the time you took to help me out.

Team, First time poster, and first time GM for a Heroes game. We're in a Heroic Dark Hero Campaign, 150pts. One of my characters has an intriguing character concept, where he wants to use a whip in one hand to "snare and trip" an opponent, and then shoot him/her in the back with a pistol as the opponent is on the ground. I've looked at the rules and cannot figure out how to do it. Is the whip attack a grab or an entangle? Is the attack a multi attack or a combined? Can he do all this in one phase? How would you more experienced GMs build his character, and using what rules/mechanics to do it? Please help, I'm super confused.