Tales from the Rocket House

Part of what a common language system does is define the baseline “reality”or “feel” of the games that use it. The part of the system that goes the farthest toward defining this “feel” is usually combat.

If combat is a blandly abstracted procedure in which there is simply no way a character can die until a large number of hit points have been reduced via a war of attrition, then players and characters will see in-game violence very differently. Not only will ambushes and maneuver warfare be replaced by attrition (sort of the way the large ships in Star Trek just sit there and pound on each others' shields), but powerful characters will have no reason to fear fighting anything significantly less powerful than they are. In other words, combat won't be a serious matter, and by extension, neither will violence in general.

If combat is a stylized, cinematic affair, such as you'd see in tournament anime or a swashbuckling movie, the players and characters will (hopefully) see fighting in the light of the genre the game is emulating. Toon, 7th Sea, and Feng Shui are all examples of this style of combat. This is certainly good for a single setting-specific game as an option/plug-in, but it's a bit too specific for a common language system, in my opinion (unless your group is firmly attached to this style/genre to the exclusion of all others). That said, I've written a couple of cinematic “plug-in” systems for Tarafore, but they'll be discussed in another column.

If combat is a close analog to the real world, in which a kid with a Saturday night special can get a (painfully) lucky shot and drop a special forces man, or in which a highly aggressive person can keep fighting long after he's received a wound that will ultimately prove fatal, then the players and their characters will treat combat as something to be respected – even avoided unless they have overwhelming advantages. It also allows ambushes and maneuver warfare to be highly effective, as they are in the real world.

I chose this third option for our common language system. This has had a huge effect on the tone of the games as a whole. Fights have an added level of suspense because of their unpredictability. Even the warrior-types pick their battles, as the results of combat are unpredictable and potentially deadly. Players feel free to play noncombatants, and to have those characters hide or try to improvise tactics during fights. There is no problem with having characters of varying combat ability in the group, because much of the focus of the game has been taken off of fighting. And there is generally an added level of believability to the games as a whole, knowing that what happens with combat and injury is firmly grounded.

The Process

I created my combat system to give realistic (but not lurid) results without resorting to complicated table lookups or slow, math-intensive mechanics, but instead using on the same Central Mechanic that underlies the rest of the game system. “Realistic” is a somewhat fuzzy and value-loaded term, and so bears some clarification. By “realistic,” I mean taking realistic principles from accounts of how fights actually play out and how the body reacts to trauma, and then abstracting them into game mechanics with a high degree of playability and no unnecessary complications. Needless to say, what constitutes an “unnecessary complication” is highly subjective, but this works for us.

I divided “damage” into Stun and Wound in order to simulate the real-world fact that people can be stopped by relatively minor wounds, or can keep fighting after receiving mortal injuries. Injuries consist of three basic parts: shock (medical shock that causes a person to shut down and stop acting), bleeding, and the actual wound itself. I decided for the sake of playability that the impairment of the wound and the bleeding associated with it could be combined onto one “Wound” roll (this is still pretty realistic). But to have any relation to the way fights (including modern-day gunfights) actually play out, shock (or stun) had to be separate from wounding.

Many systems (Shadowrun and White Wolf, for example) use “Wound Levels” as hit points with a series of penalties attached (aka, the infamous “death spiral”). But in the real world, seven “bruised” results do not add up to massive organ shutdown, coma, and death (I've often wondered whether any skateboarders existed in the World of Darkness). Seven minor slices with a switchblade (heck, seventy minor slices with a switchblade) don't usually prove fatal, but one good slash to the throat does.

While I wanted the system to be realistic, I also wanted it to be playable, and somewhat abstract. I didn't want the lurid and not terribly realistic results obtained from highly-specific critical hit charts (Rolemaster comes to mind here), but something simple and broad enough to fit with the chaos of reality and abstract enough not to induce vomiting.

Ironically, in the process of creating a realistic system, I created a system that could be easily modified to handle a stylized, anime or cinematic style of play (more on that in future columns). So, without further ado...

The Combat System

Initiative: is a Performance Test for each character involved in the fight. Highest total goes first, and so on. We typically use a “held actions” rule that allows characters to wait until later in the turn, then interrupt slower characters' actions.

Sue, who’s just been released from Folsom Prison after a little dust-up with some rednecks who laughed at his name, is tired and thirsty. He’s not really even thinking about his father when he walks into a dirty dive bar to get a drink. And who, after all these years, does he see dealing five-card stud poker, but his dearly (soon to be) departed father?

Sue issues his well-known battle cry (which is, I’m quite sure, protected by copyright) and lunges at the dirty dog who gave him his well-publicized name.

Sue and his father have to roll Initiative. Sue’s player rolls +7, -5, and adds it to his Reaction of 14, for a total of 14 + 7 – 2 = 16. The GM rolls +8, -3, and adds it to Sue's Dad's reaction of 14, for a total of 13 + 8 – 3 = 18.

Sue leads in with a punch, but his father interrupts his action. When Sue saw his father, he didn’t see the open switchblade next to his beer on the table, but he sees – and feels it – now.

Sue’s dad holds his action until he sees what Sue’s going to do. During Sue’s opening speech and rush across the barroom, his father stood up, holding the knife as subtly as possible. When Sue’s player announces his punch on Initiative 16, his dad interrupts with a knife attack.

The Attack Roll: is an Opposed Test between the attacker's Trait and the defenders Trait (use the “Range Difficulty Number” if the opponent isn't actively defending).

A Tie is a weak hit, and gives a penalty of -3 to the Stun and Wound Tests. Special Success for the attacker (“Special Hit”) gives a bonus of +3 to the Stun and Wound Tests. An Exceptional Hit adds +6 to the Stun and Wound Tests.

Certain weapons, like knives, guns, rapiers and bows, depend much more on where they hit for their effectiveness. They have lower basic Stun and Wound ratings, but get double the Stun and Wound bonuses given by Special and Exceptional hits, but suffer double the Stun/Wound penalties from Ties.

In hand-to-hand combat, a Special or Exceptional Success for the defender (a “Special Defense”) gives the defender a chance to Counterattack the attacker. A Counterattack does not use up a character's action in that turn, and can be done even if the character has already acted.

Sue’s Dad has a Prowess(Knives) 13. Sue rolls +5/-6 for his attempt to block the knife attack, for a dice total of -1. The dice total plus Sue’s Prowess(Unarmed): 14 equals 13, which Ties his father’s Attack Trait. This is a Graze.

The Knife, which has an SP/W of 10 (it’s Point-Impact, so it’s quite deadly if you get a good hit in), has DOUBLE the usual –3 penalty for a graze (that is to say, -6). This gives him a total SP/W of 4, which is to say, diddly.

Effects of “Hits” - Stun and Wound

If an attack is successful, the player must roll two additional tests: One to see if the opponent is stunned, and one to see how badly he's hurt. Each weapon has a Stun and a Wound Trait. The Stun Test is an Opposed Test between the Stun rating and the target's Toughness. The Wound Test is an Opposed Test between the Wound rating and the target's Toughness. The greater the margin of success for the attacker, the worse off the defender is.

A Success for the target of an attack means she shrugs off the attack and receives no penalty.

A Basic Stun result causes the opponent to lose his next action. Basically, he's at -3 to defend until his next action, which is used up to “recover.”

A Special Stun result stuns the opponent, meaning he's conscious but unable to act or defend for at least 3 rounds (about 10 seconds). This is usually a fight-winning hit.

An Exceptional Stun result knocks the opponent out cold.

A Success for the target of an attack means a minor scratch or bruise, with no penalty.

A Basic Wound result gives the opponent a small penalty (-1) to all actions.

A Special Wound result gives a larger penalty (-3). Without first aid, the victim will bleed to death in 15 minutes unless someone succeeds in stabilizing his wounds with a Hard (13) first aid check.

An Exceptional Wound result gives a large penalty (-5). The victim will bleed to death in five minutes unless someone succeeds in stabilizing his wounds with Ridiculously Difficult (19) first aid check.

“Double Exceptionals”: An Exceptional Hit that leads to an Exceptional Wound result drops (kills) the victim immediately. This also applies in the case of “called shots” to the head (the attacker takes a penalty of -3 to hit, but gets an Exceptional Hit if he hits at all). I believe a game system that aims for realism should include at least the possibility of instant death, since it happens in real life.

Sue’s player rolls the ± to Resist to the Wound of 4, getting +2/-8, for a total of -6. Sue’s Strength(Toughness) is 13, for a total of 7. That beats the Wound Trait by 3 (a Basic Success for Sue), which means the knife leaves a scratch, with no penalties. In this case, “Dad” went for his son’s throat, but only managed to cut off a piece of his ear.

Sue’s player rolls ± to add to the knife’s Stopping Power of 4, getting +4/-5, for a total of -1. Adding this to his Toughness of 13, he gets 12, 8 more than the knife's Stun rating. No effect at all.

Grappling: To grapple an opponent, you first have to be within grappling range (about 3 feet – within arm's reach). To get there from the default “melee range” requires an Opposed Test between the attacker's and defender's Prowess (fighting ability) ratings. This is done on the attacker's initiative, prior to the attack. In other words, you've got to move in on your opponent before you can grab him. If the attacker succeeds in moving into Grappling Range, he can immediately attempt to Grapple with the opponent (Wrestling usually falls under the Strength Trait, not Prowess, so it's wise not to let a big muscleman get too close, even if he looks slow and clumsy). If a character is within Grappling range and wants to move back into melee range, she can do that using the same process, on her turn to act. If a character loses an attempt to move into our out of Grappling range, his action ends there, and whatever else he's planning doesn't happen.

Within Grappling Range, a few things change. First and most obvious: people can wrestle. This means you can attack or defend with Strength at this range, put people into holds, etc. Second, while it's usually an advantage to have a longer weapon, that bonus turns into a penalty within Grappling range (so sometimes it's wise to close to grappling range even if you're not planning on wrestling – if your opponent has a spear and you have a short sword, you'll put him at a disadvantage by getting inside his reach). Third, while firearms have a bonus to hit within Melee (Point-Blank) range, they get no such bonus in a grappling situation (assuming an active, moving target).

Both Sue and his father have acted, so a new turn begins. They roll initiative, and Sue wins. Sue’s player tells the GM he’s trying to tackle his father through the window. To do this, he'll first have to get within Grappling Range. The GM tells him that if he succeeds, he'll get +2 to Stun and Wound from the impact and broken glass, but that if his father gets a Special or Exceptional defense, Sue will go through the window by himself, and probably get hurt in the process.

Sue's player rolls Prowess(Unarmed) to get within grappling range, rolling +4/-2 and adding his Prowess(Unarmed): 14, for a total of 16. This is 3 more than his father’s Prowess(Knives): 13 – a Special Success. Sue is within grappling range and can roll to hit his father.

Sue's player decides to use his Prowess(Unarmed) of 14 to hit with his tackle, since it's higher than his Strength (Wrestling) of 13. He rolls and gets +6/-1, for a total of 19. That's 4 more than his father's Strength(Wrestling) of 15, a Special Hit. They go through the window and out into the street.

Unfortunately for Sue, his father's a tough son of a gun, and avoids actual injury as they land in the muddy, beer-drenched street. He did suffer a Basic Stun, or “Lose Next Action” result, which means that whatever he was going to do this turn got canceled.

Situational Modifiers – Instead of creating a long list of specific modifiers that will be added and subtracted with each Test, the GM assigns a bonus or penalty of +1 to +6 to one character based on who has the advantage. If your weapon is significantly longer than the opponent's, that's usually +3, but if your opponent gets you within grappling range, that becomes a penalty of -3. If you have cover, that gives your opponent a disadvantage when he's trying to shoot at you, and so on. The guidelines are a little longer than that, but I won't list them all here.

Automatic Weapons – rather than have a long, complex system (and I tried out more than a couple of those), I decided to go with this: 3 round bursts give +1 to hit. 5 round bursts give +2 to hit. 10 round bursts give +3 to hit, OR can hit two adjacent targets with no penalty. In this case, Special and Exceptional hits represent multiple gunshot wounds or very nasty gunshot wounds (or both).

Drawing a Weapon - this is a “half action,” meaning it gives a -5 initiative penalty, but doesn't actually cost a character his or her action that turn.

Sue and his dad both rolled around on the ground, kicking, punching, and cursing. Finally, his dad got away and stood, quicker than he’d expected in an old man like that . . . but not quick enough. Sue saw his father reach into his duster, but came up with his own pistol just before his dad cleared leather.

Since both characters acted, a new turn begins. It’s time to roll Initiative for both Sue and his father. Sue’s player rolls +3-1, plus his Prowess(Reaction): 14, for a total of 16. His father rolled +3-3, plus his Prowess(Reaction): 13, for a total of 13.

Sue holds his action until he sees what his father is doing (that is, until Initiative 13). “Dad’s” going into his duster for another weapon, probably a gun. This gives him an initiative penalty of –5 (meaning he won’t have the gun drawn until Initiative 8), but he will still have his action, which he can use to shoot down his prodigal son.

Sue has a gun of his own, stashed in the back waistband of his blue jeans, and he goes for it first, with the same -5 penalty. This means Sue can have his gun out by Initiative 8. Since he held his action, he gets to interrupt his father's action. He's fast enough to make his daddy reconsider, or just shoot him down...

and if you want to know how the story ends, buy the album . . .

Conclusion

Ultimately, your game mechanics shape the perception of reality in the game. In my experience, it's much easier for players to “get into their characters' heads” when the mechanics provide a consistent, believable framework (or, in a stylized genre, one that fits well with the familiar conventions of that genre).

When the rules give a ridiculous result, or one that can't make sense from the character's perspective, that creates a jarring disconnect between player and character. Experienced players and GM's can usually avoid a truly jarring disconnect is, but when the rules provide a long series of results that have to be translated, even reshaped into something the characters could understand, a creeping disconnect wiggles into the game and puts distance between the players and their characters.

Nowhere is this more evident than when the character's life is on the line. If the character has to deal with and relate to injuries in a way that feels intuitively correct to the player (and is principally in line with the way human bodies react to trauma), the connection between player and character is strengthened.

This is not to say that good players can't play deeply in-character in any game system, but I believe they shouldn't have to climb over an obstacle course of system artifacts. Much of the refinement of the Tarafore system has been about removing these obstacles. So far, it's worked for us.