PA post

[willtruncheon]

Hey all,

A malleable version of our test rules for combat is up on the Yahoo group site. Review and destroy. Thank you.

Comments

[dcltdw]

Hmm, interesting.

Such a fine line to hit. Too lethal a game, and NPCs have a crushing advantage: they just don't care. Not lethal enough, and the PCs just lollerskate over your poor NPCs.

To try and sidestep that issue, this makes me think that the best course of action for PCs is to have The Big Mob: nobody gets lost that way, everyone is supported. Good thing or bad thing? Not sure.

[willtruncheon]

Definitely valid. Ultimately, I think the solution is to have plot compliment the rules system. Then if that doesn't work, you write the plot to compliment the PC's patterns of movement. Don't try to swim against a riptide.

I think medics and medical PC's are going to end up being extremely valuable (duh). Combat engagements will be brief and intense, and plot is going to have to emphasize to PC's that picking their battles is important. Hopefully rationing of ammunition by Logistics will help get this idea across early.

Picking battles

[ringrose]

Having to pick your battles, in my experience, results in two things:
Older PCs tend to stay older, because they've learned which battles to pick.
Younger PCs die. They might know to pick their battles, but they lack the information to do it.

And when new things come out, nobody knows if they should pick that battle. The need to pick battles doesn't actually help, except to instill a sense of "I should let someone else do that fight." Result: nobody wants to fight it.

I'm not sure what the solution should be, though.

Re: Picking battles

[willtruncheon]

I think a major portion of this problem arises because at "traditional" fantasy Larps, new costumed creatures are a staple of every game. We're not going to have a whole lot of new monster types introduced. The challenge will be situational, rather than informational. The vast majority of combat encounters will be against creatures that PC's will be familiar with from the Rulebook. What determines the level of difficulty of an encounter will be armament, numbers, location, and extenuating circumstances. There will be a lot less "big unknown baddie with unknown powers walks into town" situations.

That's what will make PA different from other games...

[ghostowl]

The danger makes the game more realistic, and in my opinion puts the fear factor back in. And I agree, it lends for more appreciation for those of the medical persuasion.

I know this isn't very PC, but this game is not for pussies. Learn fast or die! :)