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How to con the players into melee combat
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Ninja-Bear
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 12:07 pm    Post subject: How to con the players into melee combat Reply with quote

This Sat., I'm planning to run a premade adventure. The players will face pirates that have vibrorapuers. As a gm, I wiukd really like to pull off a sword fight instead of a blaster fight.
I'm looking for ideas to have this action without a total gm fiat.

My only idea is to have the area exposed to potentially explosive gases. How do I justify though the vibro part of the rapiers? Specially insulated?
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shootingwomprats
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have been toying with mechanic that adds a new range called Engaged. Which is 0-3 meters. Most hand weapons are not effective at this range so it fits. Once you have entered Engaged range you perform brawling and melee attacks.

The part I have not figured out yet is movement. The issue in the past has been if a character uses an action to close, and the opponent uses their first action to move away, melee combat never takes place.

Some have suggested an Attack of Opportunity from D&D but I dislike this as well. So what to do.

I think if a character closes to within Engaged range and they want to move away they must make an opposed Running/Dexterity roll versus brawling/melee combat. If successful the character can move normally. If failure they cannot disengage.

Just an idea.
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MrNexx
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 12:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cargo crates, stacked poorly, creating a maze of tiny passages where long sight lines for blaster fire aren't available. Stick everything at about half light, so distance fire is even worse.

Happened all the gorram time in Mass Effect 1, usually with Husks... couldn't stand back and shoot them, wound up having to draw a shotgun or beat them to death.
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Ninja-Bear
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MrNexx wrote:
Cargo crates, stacked poorly, creating a maze of tiny passages where long sight lines for blaster fire aren't available. Stick everything at about half light, so distance fire is even worse.

Happened all the gorram time in Mass Effect 1, usually with Husks... couldn't stand back and shoot them, wound up having to draw a shotgun or beat them to death.


Hmmm and how about a mist or smoke in the air that can diffuse or deflect laser beams?
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shootingwomprats
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well if you're wanting the players to do melee as opposed to ranged, the easiest thing to do, it take their ranged weapons or make them unavailable to them. Maybe they have to leave them on their ship, turn them over to an authority, maybe there is a strange dampening field that only affects tibanni gas? Tons of reasons.

As has already been suggested, make it so that ranged weapons are ineffective. Reduce ranges with short hallways, boxes, crypt, winding hallway. Though be aware, your players will try to use this to their advantage stating anything from Point Blank shots and Short Range. You will have to have a counter answer for them

Lighting is also a good one, but if your players have anything that negates this its pointless. I would suggest at least a -2D lighting and maybe a -2D steam modifier, total -4D added to difficulty.
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Ninja-Bear
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 1:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The initial scenerio calls for the pirates to jump the pcs on a Rim world. The PCs are leaving a cantina to their docking bay. Hmmm planetary condions?I
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MrNexx
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ninja-Bear wrote:
The initial scenerio calls for the pirates to jump the pcs on a Rim world. The PCs are leaving a cantina to their docking bay. Hmmm planetary condions?I


Planetary conditions might work. An evening fog wouldn't be unreasonable. If they're at the docking bay and aren't moving a lot of cargo themselves, they might be placed somewhere with foot access but not a lot of cargo access (i.e. surrounded by a lot of crates).
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shootingwomprats
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 2:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MrNexx wrote:
Planetary conditions might work. An evening fog wouldn't be unreasonable.


He is correct, give them a -1D or -2D visual modifier to task difficulty. You might also give the bad guys a tactical bonus for knowing the best place to set an ambush, where to hide best to cover distances to beat on the characters. Also keep in mind, if they can manage to get surprise on the characters, the first round, they get to do nothing. No defenses of any type. Bad guys declare they are running up to close the distance (cruising speed x2 movement, 20 meters) and smack the players. Players get a soak roll of course and can spend Character Points to augment this, but they do not get to do anything else.
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TauntaunScout
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cracken's field guide states that landspeeder coolant gas, or something, diffuses blaster bolts. You can look it up. It gives rules for making balsters do less and less damage the farther they shoot through a cloud of it. Cracken used a big canister of it to make a blaster-proof smoke screen.

You can always have lots of volatile stuff around that will explode if shot. There was something like that in the miniatures book. Every time a character bombs out while shooting, something explodes and/or catches fire.
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Error
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like the explosive gases idea. You won't need to change vibrorapiers at all. If a player wonders why the swords don't set off the gases (unlikely that anyone would ask), just say that the power required to vibrate one of the swords is too low to ignite them (true anyway).
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:22 pm    Post subject: Re: How to con the players into melee combat Reply with quote

Ninja-Bear wrote:
This Sat., I'm planning to run a premade adventure. The players will face pirates that have vibrorapuers. As a gm, I wiukd really like to pull off a sword fight instead of a blaster fight.
I'm looking for ideas to have this action without a total gm fiat.

My only idea is to have the area exposed to potentially explosive gases. How do I justify though the vibro part of the rapiers? Specially insulated?


No real need to do that. Since they are in a pre-made mod, have their blasters all taken in customs (or somewhere else) before they get to that fight.. So they only HAVE melee/brawl to go with.

shootingwomprats wrote:
I have been toying with mechanic that adds a new range called Engaged. Which is 0-3 meters. Most hand weapons are not effective at this range so it fits. Once you have entered Engaged range you perform brawling and melee attacks.

The part I have not figured out yet is movement. The issue in the past has been if a character uses an action to close, and the opponent uses their first action to move away, melee combat never takes place.

Some have suggested an Attack of Opportunity from D&D but I dislike this as well. So what to do.

I think if a character closes to within Engaged range and they want to move away they must make an opposed Running/Dexterity roll versus brawling/melee combat. If successful the character can move normally. If failure they cannot disengage.

Just an idea.


In many tv shows we see people in close trying to 'shoot' but getting brawled/melee, to where they can't hit jack.. So perhaps someone that close in, being shot at, can use his or her melee/brawl parry instead of dodge..

Ninja-Bear wrote:
MrNexx wrote:
Cargo crates, stacked poorly, creating a maze of tiny passages where long sight lines for blaster fire aren't available. Stick everything at about half light, so distance fire is even worse.

Happened all the gorram time in Mass Effect 1, usually with Husks... couldn't stand back and shoot them, wound up having to draw a shotgun or beat them to death.


Hmmm and how about a mist or smoke in the air that can diffuse or deflect laser beams?


Already exists. Blaster dispersion gas canisters. Often used by bodyguards..

Ninja-Bear wrote:
The initial scenerio calls for the pirates to jump the pcs on a Rim world. The PCs are leaving a cantina to their docking bay. Hmmm planetary condions?I


Lots of methane in the atmosphere to where blasters are prohibited (or roll 1d when ever fired, to see what sort of 'kaboom there is'..
Planetary restrictions..
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Sutehp
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Error wrote:
I like the explosive gases idea. You won't need to change vibrorapiers at all. If a player wonders why the swords don't set off the gases (unlikely that anyone would ask), just say that the power required to vibrate one of the swords is too low to ignite them (true anyway).


Why would a vibrorapier set off an explosive gas? It's not like they have sparks that would ignite anything. (Or do they?) How would a moving blade (even one as fast as a vibro-weapon) set off an explosive gas?

Also, I didn't know about that blaster-blocking gas. I'll have to look that up. I've heard of (fictional, obviously) low-tech lasers that could be blocked by smoke, since they're light-based, but I thought blasters worked differently and couldn't be blocked by any sort of gas, be it smoke, steam or what have you. (Are blasters plasma-based? I forget.) Finding out about a specific gas that can block blaster bolts is definitely a device with great story potential.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 2:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's the item from the equipment guide, which came from several other sources..

Quote:
Dampener Aerosol
Model: Zemphyr Defenders, Incorporated
Passive Defender PD-0943
Type: Blaster dispersion system
Cost: 600
Availability: 4, F or R
Game Notes: The PD Canister is a cylinder
10 centimeters long by 4 centimeters in
diameter; it has three charges. Each charge
produces a visible cloud that covers a one
meter cubic area. Any blaster bolt entering
the cloud loses -1D of damage. The cloud
lasts for one minute (barring heavy winds
or precipitation). Additional charges in the
same area have no additional benefit.
Source: Galladinium’s Fantastic
Technology (page 80), Arms and
Equipment Guide (page 45)

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Sutehp
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 3:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
Here's the item from the equipment guide, which came from several other sources..

Quote:
Dampener Aerosol
Model: Zemphyr Defenders, Incorporated
Passive Defender PD-0943
Type: Blaster dispersion system
Cost: 600
Availability: 4, F or R
Game Notes: The PD Canister is a cylinder
10 centimeters long by 4 centimeters in
diameter; it has three charges. Each charge
produces a visible cloud that covers a one
meter cubic area. Any blaster bolt entering
the cloud loses -1D of damage. The cloud
lasts for one minute (barring heavy winds
or precipitation). Additional charges in the
same area have no additional benefit.
Source: Galladinium’s Fantastic
Technology (page 80), Arms and
Equipment Guide (page 45)


Damn, that's nice. So it doesn't "block" blaster bolts per se, but it does "dilute" the damage from them. Ok, that makes more sense than a cloud blocking a bolt of energy.

Tangental topic: the next entry in the D6-D20 Equipment guide was the Shield Gauntlet, which mentions that it reflects/absorbs melee and brawl damage. The reason I mention it now is that in the Rebels Season 3.5 trailer, we see Sabine using them to parry blaster bolts. So it seems that we have canon evidence that they can deflect ranged blaster damage as well.
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TauntaunScout
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 9:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Canon" is out the window in a non-canon 20 year old RPG. Whatever the Game Master says, that's canon for the duration of the game.
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