House Rules of Combat in this game:
1. This is play-by-post, not tabletop. We’re not going to bother with standard turn order or formal initiative or anything like that.
If the bad guys get the drop on you, I’ll post their action(s) when I set up the encounter. Other than that, we’ll play out fights in turn as individual duels between two(ish) characters. You can assume that if I’ve posted a response, it’s your turn and if I haven’t replied yet, it’s the NPC’s turn. If several PCs get involved with the same NPC, the NPC will split his pools to deal with each separately in the same manner. PCs are welcome to coordinate actions on a case-by-case basis—you know the NPCs will do the same.
By handling fights in this way, we don’t have to worry about whose turn it is. One PC may get more screen time than another, but that’s okay. That’s the way it works in the movies, too. If a player misses a few beats, we’ll assume he’s handling his opponent offscreen, recovering from his last action, or setting up his next action.
There will be a couple of ramifications to this:
A. No more than one post per PC per day during combat.
Just so people that are busy IRL don’t get left in the dust. If everybody is free and getting screen time, we can relax this rule.
B. Players that post less often get more leeway for time on the turns they do take.
For a player that posts every day, I’ll probably make him or her describe a complementary check in a separate post from the primary skill check. For a busy player that’s getting less air time, I may let him or her combine the checks into the same post in the interest of moving the action along. It’s not prejudicial treatment—it’s just game flow management.
C. If you know you’ll be unavailable for a few days and don’t mind me resolving your actions for you, you can queue up actions in advance.
If a player knows he or she will be busy for a few days during a combat, it’s okay to list several actions in the same post ahead of time for the ST to resolve by proxy.
2. Rolling to hit, then to defend, then for damage, then for soak is ridiculously too much dice rolling.
As such, we'll be using the following rules concerning attack rolls:
I mean, seriously. Do the peeps over at WW actually play their games as written?
A. Attacker describes the set-up on his attack.
This includes the weapon, target, and manuever he or she is using, if any. Pages 420-426 in the Werewolf 20th book have an excellent list of combat options, but if you have access to the World of Darkness: Combat book, you can use maneuvers from there, also.
Note that in order to use a maneuver from Combat, it has to be on the list for your chosen martial art (or a common maneuver) and you have to have the prerequisites for it.
Also, since we're not spending Power Points to buy combat maneuvers, if you want to gain the Initiative, Accuracy, Damage, and/or Move bonuses from a manuever from the Combat book, you have to commit the full action for the turn to the maneuver--no splitting the dice pool. If you're just using the manuever as flavor text, you're welcome to split your dice but don't get the mechanical bonuses from the maneuver.
B. Attacker generates a dice pool to attack.
As you might expect... This can be in the same post as the set-up.
C. If the target is defending, subtract the dice allocated to his or her Defense Pool directly from the Attack Pool.
The defender doesn't roll his dice pool--it just reduces the attacker's pool. If this reduces the attacker's pool to zero dice, the attacker can still roll one die, but the Difficulty is 10. The attacker can choose to miss without a roll if he's worried about a botch.
Naturally, the Defense Pool has to be in an appropriate form to apply to the attack--a Melee parry doesn't usually work against a Firearms attack, for instance.
D. If the same defender gets attacked more than once on the same turn, by one or more opponents, reduce his defense pool by one (1) die for each additional attack.
This dice pool reduction applies whether his or her defense counts against the attack or not (as with flanking attackers). These attacks still diminish the defender's capabilities.
E. Attacker rolls the attack.
If the attack succeeds, its damage pool equals the base attack damage plus one die for each extra success in the attack. This applies for both melee and ranged attacks.
F. If the target has Soak, subtract the Soak rating directly from the damage pool.
The defender doesn't roll his Soak pool--it just reduces the damage pool. If the attacker has automatic successes on his damage roll, the defender's Soak Rating reduces these first, then the damage dice. If this reduces the damage pool to zero dice, roll one die anyway for bashing damage, regardless of the attack.
G. Storyteller makes the Damage Roll.
This'll speed up resolution a bit.
Most attacks that have 4 or more dice in the damage pool will also affect the target's next action, usually by applying a dice pool reduction or Difficulty penalty, regardless of actual damage. If an attack has 8 or more dice in the damage pool, it may also cause a lingering effect that lasts for a minute or more, or until the end of combat. These are separate from damage effects, so a strong attack that winds up dealing zero health levels of damage can still slow down the target, if only for a turn or two.
H. If the damage roll generates any successes, the target suffers one level of damage per success.
Note that using this system, the attacker will make one (1) dice roll for attacking. The defender will not roll dice. If the attack succeeds, the Storyteller will make one (1) damage roll.
I know you're gonna complain about losing all the wonderful nuances of defense roll Difficulty Numbers, but come on, seriously. Isn't combat supposed to be fast?
I. Storyteller describes the results of the attack or prompts the attacker to describe its results.
In true Storyteller fashion...
Note that at his or her discretion, the ST may or may not mention levels of damage in the results. For PCs, you can check your Character Sheet for the exact damage. For NPCs, well... That's combat.
So in the scope of things, I envision an attack going thusly in post:
For PCs:
1. Attacker posts to describe the initial execution and to declare his or her Attack Pool, Target, and Maneuver (if any).
2. Storyteller replies with dice reduction from Defense Pool.
3. Attacker uses the Dice Roller and posts his or her results.
4. Storyteller resolves and applies damage and either posts the outcome or asks the attacker to embellish his or her action with dramatic prowess.
For NPCs:
1. Storyteller takes into account the attacker's dice pool and the target's Defense Pool, as previously stated in posts, uses the Dice Roller, and posts the resolution of the attack.
3. If the players don't feel like this makes combat deadly enough, (like me) we can change it so the damage is automatic and the Soak gets rolled, instead of the other way around.
Hey, I played Shadowrun before I played White Wolf. Storyteller combat feels like fluffy bunnies in plate mail with nerf guns to me.
4. If you have access to the World of Darkness: Combat book, you're welcome to use one of the Martial Arts styles from there.
If you don't, you can define your own (there are some guidelines on p. 424 in the M20 book) to gain effective Specialization bonuses to appropriate combat maneuvers.
5. Targeting a Location, as detailed on M20 p. 418, adds Automatic Successes to damage, not just Dice.
You already have to hit a higher Difficulty number in order to target a location in the first place. How does it make sense that you only have a 50/50 chance of benefiting from it?
6. Armor is better than it used to be in WoD 20th, but we're expanding on the rules they've got:
Soft armor represents thick clothing and hide jackets or suits. It provides only a minimal amount of protection. This stuff adds to your Soak, as in the standard rules, but it doesn't let a mortal soak lethal nor aggravated damage.
Hard armor represents metal or plate suits that are designed for protection rather than comfort. This reduces your Dexterity pools, as in the standard rules, but it also converts lethal damage from muscle-powered (melee) weapons into bashing damage so the wearer can soak it with his Stamina. This means that if the wearer does takes damage from the attack, it deals bashing damage instead of lethal damage.
Bulletproof armor indicates Kevlar or ballistic plate suits engineered to protect the wearer from firearms. They reduce your Dexterity pools, but they also convert lethal damage from both melee and most ranged weapons into bashing damage so the wearer can soak it with his Stamina.
Last edited by ionathas, November 12 2019 13:56:49. Secured game article. You most log in to contribute.