Loady
Junior Member
Posts: 62 
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Post by Loady on Nov 10, 2014 0:37:18 GMT -8
I GM'd my first game. I noticed that its really hard for players to hit anything. A human has a standard SV or 01-50. He only has a 50% chance of hitting. If the opponent has -12 armor he has to role 1-38 to hit, about 1/3 chance. Its frustrating for my players who despite firing rifles and shotguns, which in real life are very likely to hit, they often miss. What the reason for that?
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Post by rexbannon on Nov 10, 2014 5:11:51 GMT -8
In my honest opinion its because rank 1 characters are inexperienced. Think newbies, but this doesn't fully explain it. The epoch has a really quick rank advancement rate. Problem is that the rank one starting players need to survive there first couple battles in order to reach it, and having very little real combat experience starting at rank 1 its supposed to be difficult. The good thing is that if your characters live to tell the tale and rank up, it becomes far easier to hit enemies from there on out. The hub rules says that all players should roll up two characters when starting a new game because the mortality rate is so high. It sucks but characters die easily in this game if your players aren't careful and plan out each move, an sometimes even when they do. I hope this rant helped. Check out my PC/NPC page for possible PC choices for your players or NPC's that they can hire to keep them alive for a cut of the take.
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Loady
Junior Member
Posts: 62
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Post by Loady on Nov 10, 2014 11:34:12 GMT -8
Thanks. I've been doing some house rule modifications to keep my players from leaving. Its been very hard to maintain a group. San Diego is more of a fantasy RPG town.
Started playing gamma world version 4 with the mall of doom adventure with a group of 8. Most left after one game. Then I had some newbies with about 5 people total. More left and more came for end of Mall of Doom with 5 players. I switched to ME game from Gamma World and dumped the GW characters.
Played red crater part 1 with three players playing 2 characters each. Had first character death last night. No big deal-picked up another pre gen and handed in to him.
Gonna be hard to have one player with 6 characters! Now I'm recruiting players at work.
In order to make it easier for newbies:
I'm going to increase rank after every game session or one day in game time. I'll stop that auto increase after rank 6.
I'm upping strike value for players rank 1-3. I'm increasing certain weapons strike value. Its much easier to hit with a modern gun then a bow and arrow or sword so I'm adjusting for that.
I'm changing defense value to make it easier to hit opponents.
I'm removing the armor from the defense value. Armor will only count if the character is hit. Then it will lower damage. It won't change odds of being hit. That will depend on agility and and perception and rank. May need to modify that to keep players from being more damaged too.
I've seen super enemies in ME. Those super opponents can only be defeated by a several rank 5+ or 10 REALLY well equipped, high endurance, high strike value and skilled rank 1s.
Maybe I'll give them all full ballistic armor and hand cannons.
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Post by ecocola on Nov 11, 2014 21:23:00 GMT -8
The way i see it, most characters come from a non military background (and the ones who do come with accuracy bonuses) and aren't born fighters. They don't know how to swing a sword against another swordsmen, or how to properly aim a crossbow
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Loady
Junior Member
Posts: 62
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Post by Loady on Dec 16, 2014 11:27:01 GMT -8
Theres no perfect solution but the mods I made seem good. Crossbows and guns are easier for beginners to hit things with in the real world then blade weapons and longbows etc. I'm trying to pair the opponent monster strength against player strength too so Neo Ogres arent going against beginner players. Another thing is its boring when a monster has 100 hit points, er constitution and players are whacking it with swords doing 5 points of damage each. Takes a long time to dispatch the beast. I think I'm gonna have the losing creature start running away rather then being slowly executed.
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Post by ecocola on Dec 16, 2014 18:04:29 GMT -8
Theres no perfect solution but the mods I made seem good. Crossbows and guns are easier for beginners to hit things with in the real world then blade weapons and longbows etc. I'm trying to pair the opponent monster strength against player strength too so Neo Ogres arent going against beginner players. Another thing is its boring when a monster has 100 hit points, er constitution and players are whacking it with swords doing 5 points of damage each. Takes a long time to dispatch the beast. I think I'm gonna have the losing creature start running away rather then being slowly executed. There are ways this is handled, the morale of a beast is listed, some beasts have high morale because they happen to be mindless, or are bred to know that they dominate things smaller than them. Some are more wily, and may retreat when things are going bad, or even feign retreat, only to ambush the players. But in this mutant future there are beasts that bolt and blade won't hurt as much (which isn't saying much for them in the first place) And to go off on a slight tangent fighting in antiquity and medieval times wasn't terribly efficient. Many casualties come from those that are wounded, even slightly, and proceed to walk to the back of the lines to wherever the wounded are kept. Or better yet, some who feign wounds, or assist others in carrying away wounded. the rest of the casualties came after the enemy routed and were cut down by cavalry and such. So all in all, archaic weapons aren't all that powerful in the first place. |
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yrgael
New Member
Chillin at the Bohemian
Posts: 27
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Post by yrgael on Sept 28, 2015 17:30:04 GMT -8
After the 1st RPG was created, the 1st comment said was, "It sucks to be 1st Level!"
I have always considered 1st Level to be the "learning level". By 2nd level, players should know how the combat system works and how their character fits into the picture.
Character generation for TME may leave one character with an assault rifle and 20+d20 rounds and another with a pitchfork. By 2nd level, all of the assault rifle rounds may be gone; but the pitchfork still works!
I have a pretty standard 1st level module I run that tries to it all the possible combat encounters of the game I am playing. I haven't written it up because it would seem terribly boring to read it. What it does do and is important for TME is to teach the basics and give the "unlucky' players with just a pitchfork a chance to purchase some better gear.
It can be a little disappointing for the player with the assault rifle but the player with the pitchfork can upgrade armor, etc.
But, as with anything in an RPG, if 1st level is too big a drag...skip it! Or, my preferred method, for those that know the game system, is make it a role playing/introduction to each other fest. Flesh out the characters with a shopping trip to a market place. Remember, shopping in TME is not like going to a department store. Searching through the market, finding good deals, completing some small "quests", etc. may result in better prices or access to some gear that isn't just "laying on the table".
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Post by aardvark892 on Oct 13, 2016 7:14:24 GMT -8
Have you ever been in combat? I think a 50/50 chance of hitting anything is pretty darn good. It means it really is hit or miss. Besides, most characters with any type of military background have skills that give them SV bonuses. Don't forget that the DM can always, always, add to their chance to hit if you think the situation warrants. So your character has a rifle, snuck up on a Garnock, and shoots him from cover, from behind, at about 30 meters? Give that 0-50 1st Level character a +40 SV to hit! What if the character has not skill in the weapon at all, no military background? So what? Give them the same +40... the modifiers don't change, only the characters basic chance to hit does. Don't forget that The Mutant Epoch is NOT D&D... it's deadly, and characters die. They've gotta be smart, and can't depend on a ridiculous amount of hit points to save their butt. Give them a great adventure, and they'll come back whether their character dies or not.
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