[Rq-rules] Thanks!

[Styopa]

On 10/19/07, Bjorn Stolen <stolenbjorn at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> You critisize the illogic of the SR because the longsword gets to act
> first. Sorry, mac, but that's how things are in real life. You could of
> course make a system that is not based on realism. You can of course
> parry/dodge and then attack with the dagger, and nothing in the RQ3-system
> prevents you from doing that.
>
>  In some circomstanses the shorter weapon gets to strike first WHICH IS
> ALLSO COVERED IN THE SR-SYSTEM!!! (like when legionares use huge shields and
> short gladiuses to slash/stab in very cramped space, where spearmen are
> unable to use the advantage of better reach. So you may say that the SR
> rules in RQ3 do not pleace you, but you cannot say that they're not
> realistic.I've been doing WMA for 5 years, so I think I know what I'm
> talking about.
>


Not sure why you seem to be quite so "worked up" over this.

1) It's covered in the SR system, albeit POORLY.  The rules only state that
once a shorter-weaponed character closes with a longer-weaponed character,
the shorter-weaponed character gets to "strike first, regardless of SR".
Well THAT'S vague in ANY situation other than the simplest one:one combat -
if the daggerman has closed with the pikeman, and the other pikeman wants to
help his buddy, who goes first - the distant pikeman or the daggerman?  The
other pikeman has a lower SR than the daggerman, but the daggerman gets to
go before his target regardless of SR - when does the dagger land?

2) my main beef, which I presented admittedly poorly, is the absolute
predictability of combat.  That's why I prefer a semi randomized result,
because I don't like my players saying things like "I have a melee SR of 4
and his is 7, I know that 100% I'll be able to move 6m and STILL swing
before him".  I've only been in HTH combat perhaps a dozen times in my life,
and only thrice where I believed my life was seriously on the line (and only
one of those with multiple combatants on both sides which would be the most
frequent situation in RQ combat in my experience).  It was ANYTHING but
mechanistic, and if you've been doing WMA for 5 years I'd imagine you'd
agree.

The more I think about it, I'd also consider strongly a benefit to SR based
on user skill ... which goes to my point regarding the wrong-scaledness of
the SR system...the fact that after a certain point, one can be certain that
there is NOBODY in the world faster with weapon X.  Again, I dislike such
system-enforced certainty in the minds of my players.
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