Second Edition Combat Tick Sheet

[Flagg]

I've made a "tick sheet", in PDF format, for people to use. It's on the Downloads page, in the Documents section.


This one's geared towards an individual player's use, but I'd like to also design one for STs, who might need to keep track of multiple NPCs.


This brings me to a general question about the new combat logistics:


In the old style of combat, I used to give all the extras one initiative roll, and have them all act simultaneously, for convenience. However, under the new system, unless they all act IDENTICALLY, they'll quickly slip out of sync, tick-wise. It seems to me like this would be a nightmare to keep track of in the event of a large number of Extras.


Any thoughts on how to handle this quickly and efficiently?


-S

 

[Persell]

It is not as bad as one would think at first. most actions are around 5 ticks, including the speed of most weapons and for ease of use I'd just stick to 5 tick actions for extras.

 

[Flagg]

Also, since I'm working from memory currently, instead of from book: Does the tick count start at 1 or 0? I have this nagging in the back of my head that says, "0," but I don't see any reason why it would be that way.


-S

 

[Solfi]

... I also have the feeling 0 has been mentioned, but in any case, it doesn't really matter does it? I mean, you could start at tick 100 if you wanted, as long as the starting point was agreed upon.

 

[Flagg]

Of course. I'd just like to make sure the sheet conforms with the book.


-S

 

[Solfi]

Don't know if you can use this expression in english but...


... paragraphrider

 

[Persell]

Not sure about english but it is valid in german


I start at tick zero btw

 

[Flagg]

I just modified the sheet, upon consideration. It now allows you to track up to 5 characters simultaneously, and has an "optional" tick 0.


-S

 

[Flagg]

Also, my recommendation for the sheet: Laminate it, and use erasable markers. That way, you don't need to print a new one each time there's a skirmish.


-S

 

[memesis]

In the old style of combat, I used to give all the extras one initiative roll, and have them all act simultaneously, for convenience. However, under the new system, unless they all act IDENTICALLY, they'll quickly slip out of sync, tick-wise. It seems to me like this would be a nightmare to keep track of in the event of a large number of Extras.

Solve two problems at once.  Assume extras will try to coordinate attacks against PCs, which requires that they act on the same tick.  This means PCs will frequently face DV penalties, making them work harder, AND keeps everyone moving on the same action.

 

[Solfi]

Not sure about english but it is valid in german
I start at tick zero btw

Not surprising... the german - swedish connection is quite strong.


Schadenfreude - Skadeglädje


Paragrafryttare - ?

 

[Persell]

The first action goes to the person who wins the Jion Battle action on tick 0.

 

[Flagg]

Thanks.


BTW- "paragraphrider"?


-S

 

[Solfi]

... a direct translation of a swedish expression. Not that hard to figure out what it means... I suppose the closest expression would be "ruleslawyer".

 

[Persell]

Not sure about english but it is valid in german
I start at tick zero btw

Not surprising... the german - swedish connection is quite strong.


Schadenfreude - Skadeglädje


Paragrafryttare - ?

Regelrytter in Danish. Damn, this is so far off topic, you have to use a telescope to catch a glimpse of the original thread

 

[Flagg]

Well, to get things back on topic: I just tweaked it one more time by shading every other column, for better readability.


-S

 

[Persell]

Paragraphenreiter in german


Somone who takes everything way too exact.

 

[The Scorp]

Or to show Exalted superiority, just have the extras, no matter what they do offensively, have a speed of 7 or 8.

 

[Flagg]

I like the idea of a generic speed for all actions by Extras, at least by type. I'd give elite soldiers or wild boars a better speed than a pack of one-legged leper children, but all the boars, or leper children, would have the same speed for everything.


-S

 

[memesis]

So I've written the beginnings of a Ruby on Rails app to manage 2nd ed fights.  It shows a list of combatants, along with their 'next action tick' and 'current DV'.  You feed in a speed and a DV penalty and it updates the listing accordingly.


Players who can go on the 'current tick' are shown in red.  Once everyone in red has taken an action, you advance to the next tick.  And so forth.


Since the 2nd ed version of Lore5 will be using Rails, this can simply be one more application hanging off it.

 

[Flagg]

Sounds very cool. It might also be handy to have a clickable list of pre-defined actions which automatically inputs the ticks/DV modifier.


-S

 

[memesis]

Sounds very cool. It might also be handy to have a clickable list of pre-defined actions which automatically inputs the ticks/DV modifier.
-S

I'll probably add such a thing as the tool gets more polish.

 

[Persell]

I actually think that the storyteller should not bother with correctly adjusting the DV of extras. too much bookkeeping and most get hit pretty easily anyway. Just assume that they protect each other a bit when in huge numbers and therefore the DV stays the same. I mean DV 1 or 2 makes no difference for most solars anyway.

 

[Persell]

I mean DV 1 or 2 makes no difference for most solars anyway.

I disagree. For Solars who aren't very focussed on combat, what you're suggesting could easily mean the difference between doing well in combat and doing very poorly.


Sure, if all your characters can carve through extras regardless of DV, don't bother tracking it.

 

[Persell]

I mean DV 1 or 2 makes no difference for most solars anyway.

I disagree. For Solars who aren't very focussed on combat, what you're suggesting could easily mean the difference between doing well in combat and doing very poorly.


Sure, if all your characters can carve through extras regardless of DV, don't bother tracking it.

For hitting an elite soldier you need 3 successes, thats 6 dice in the pool. you don't need to be especially combat oriented to get that.


And then: learn to fucking quote correctly. I was saying that the storyteller should not bother to adjust the DV. The DV does go down when it is adjusted according to actions. So I was not talking about making it any easier for the solars therefore your quote was an unneccessary "I raise my postcount" thing.