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What should a gol grunt NPC do against a PC with more dice(CP 14) and a very good bastard sword(TN's 5) that uses all of his dice on one attack?
Even if he goes for a full evasion, the PC will probably hit anyway, so there is a problem.

Go red red, full attack, and hope for the best.  His only chance is luck.  So he wants the fight to be as quick as possible, so that the odds have less of a chance to kill him.

ummm...run away and go get friends?
Or...die messily is always a fun option.

use a pike : )

Quote from: svenleinuse a pike : )

That was already covered with the "die messily" option ;-)



Seriously though...if we're talking a situation where flight is not an option the next question becomes one of Gol priorities.  Is his goal to damage the swordsman at any cost to himself (some fanatical save the family, or irrational hatred thing)...or is his goal to maximize his own chances to survive the encounter.

If the former, than throwing red and hoping to with the initiative is probably the highest percent chance of actually besting the swordsman.  But if the latter, I think judicious use of Full Evasions will heighten survivability.  Especially if using the fatigue rules...does a Gol have a measurably higher endurance than the swordsman...if so than dodging like a fiend for 15 or 20 rounds may just wear the swordsman's dice pool down to a more competitive level.

Option 1) Attack and hope he hits first.

Option 2) Steal initiative.

Option 3) Full Evade, and don't let him hit anywhere but in the chest, where the Gol has armor.  If the PC attacks anywhere other than the chest, give him penalty dice for thrusting to the head, arms, or legs.  This will even up the pools unless he goes for the chest, where it's nearly impossible to kill a Gol.  Then, use all the dice but one in a dodge.  Fudge the roll, if you deem necessary, and hit the PC with that last one die (if the PC has spent his dice, there's nothing he can do about it).  No PC in his right mind will put his character into that kind of danger.  The danger he can do something about is scary, but fightable.  The kind of danger that he can't fight against, he has to simply stay out of.

Many of the suggestions here are about attacking first or stealing initiative. The problem is that a gol grunt is very slow(Ref 3).
Also, given that the PC has alot of dice(14) and a TN of 5, he will probably hit sooner or later, despite a full evasion.

Note that I don't want the PC to lose, just discourage him from using all the dice in one attack.
One idea might be to give him a shield or off-hand weapon. Thus he can make a sim block/attack. The block will hopefully wear the PC's attack down enough so that the gol has some dice left to retaliate with.

The pike idea has some merit. While I don't have pikes in my world, the gol could use a big polearm. That would shrink the PC's CP, making it easier to dodge.

Quote from: MokkurkalfeNote that I don't want the PC to lose, just discourage him from using all the dice in one attack.

Why?

Why not just let himcut down the Gol? This guy is a badass. He should be cutting down Gols that easily. It's just that much more dramatic when he does it that way. If his character can get away with it, then the player is using a tactic that the character would. And that makes sense. Why are you trying to get the player to use some other tactic?

I'm having trouble with the context of this situation. Is there some Gol out there that you want to be more of a challenge to this character? Or are you simply looking for more of a challenge for the player? If the latter, then how about 2 Gols? That's going to suck, and believe me, he won't survive an all out attack on one.

Or how about him just encountering a tough Gol. The stats in the book are for yer average Gol. Make the next one a quick one with a bit more training.

But all-in-all, if you put this foe in front of this character, just let him gleefully slay relatively weak the enemy. Why not? Then present a deadlier enemy.

QuoteOne idea might be to give him a shield or off-hand weapon. Thus he can make a sim block/attack. The block will hopefully wear the PC's attack down enough so that the gol has some dice left to retaliate with.

Now that is an option that would make the single Gol dangerous to this tactic.

Mike

I agree with the above.  In a situation where a vastly more competent PC faces off a Gol, then that gol should die.  On an open field, no rocks, obstacles, or features that might be used to contrive an advantage against the PC, then, yeah, that lone Gol would best be finished with a sudden, agressive attack.  

But such a situation is rare. A non-fanatical Gol will use anything around him to survive that attack. Whether it's moving on to precarious terrain, gaining height, or leading the PC into a natural trap, the Gol has a reasonable chance of escaping, or luring the PC into an ambush or trap (mudslide, scree, river, swamp, inn table, firepit, guide-ropes, etc...).

Those factors stop the PC from openly approaching single Gols, and hacking them systematically down as they come. The minute one Gol becomes two, or three, then the PC is in big trouble. None of this pansy - 'I have more hit-points than most third world countries' - with TROS.

So it still in the advantage of the PC to sneak upon that GOL without alerting it to their presence. TROS encourages this. Far more in keeping with epic fantasy for a bunch of heroes to use with and cunning to penetrate a villain's domain, than camp outside it's gates and take the host on mano-a-mano.

So yeah, sorry to have rambled on. But regarding that PC up there then, yeah, he might as well use all his pool on attack. But he'd be better off keeping his intent from the Gol until the very last instant lest that Gol becomes a tribe.

Quote from: Mike Holmes

Quote from: MokkurkalfeNote that I don't want the PC to lose, just discourage him from using all the dice in one attack.

Why?

Why not just let himcut down the Gol? This guy is a badass. He should be cutting down Gols that easily. It's just that much more dramatic when he does it that way. If his character can get away with it, then the player is using a tactic that the character would. And that makes sense. Why are you trying to get the player to use some other tactic?

I'm having trouble with the context of this situation. Is there some Gol out there that you want to be more of a challenge to this character? Or are you simply looking for more of a challenge for the player? If the latter, then how about 2 Gols? That's going to suck, and believe me, he won't survive an all out attack on one.

Or how about him just encountering a tough Gol. The stats in the book are for yer average Gol. Make the next one a quick one with a bit more training.

But all-in-all, if you put this foe in front of this character, just let him gleefully slay relatively weak the enemy. Why not? Then present a deadlier enemy.

Mike

I agree with most of this. Of course he should able to slay a Gol, and very easily besides. Especially in a simple one-on-one. It's just my opinion that it should happen with at least a minimum of tactical thinking, instead of massing up the largest possible amount of dice. Perhaps I'm wrong here.(no sarcasm there, really)
Even if there are two or three of them, the PC is still not in trouble, and I'm not even counting his fellow adventurers yet. It's just a relatively simple terrain roll.

Also, this is not only restricted to inferior Gol vs. superior PC. In general, what is a good counter-tactic against an all out attack?

I think that the "tactical thinking" should come in the form of sizing up his opponent. There is a point at which the all-out attack is not a good idea at all. So vary Gols that he encounters. If he can't tell them apart perfectly in short order (and who could), he'll be forced to act more carefully.

As for the multiple opponents thing, they help. He may still win, but that small difference (the terrain roll) may make the difference between him thinking twice about how to attack.

And as you pointed out, the Block/Attack is I think the best resonse by far. In fact I think in this case it would usually mean that the Gol wins handily.

Mike

well you could always have the two gols, be a swordsman and a Slinger Carring a sword.   Then the gols with an Extremely simple terrain roll will have the swordsman stay with the slinge untill the charachter being pelted runs away or chargews in,   then the slinger draws sword and the pc faces 2 swordsmen.

Or just give the single Gol the chance to shoot at the PC from range before the PC closes.

Ungruk don't like humies.  Ungruk pick up big rock!  Bye, bye, stupid humies.

This is another solution.  Yet another is to make a Gol who has enough Dice to block the Bastard Sword thrust with his shield... plus one for good measure.

There may be no one who agrees with me but here goes,

Is the PC who's using his whole dice pool doing it because he knows that if he does he'll win, or is he doing it because it's the nature of his character?

If he's doing it because that's what his character would do, then let him, just make sure that he fights like that most the time, if he doesn't penalize him with some SA loss (perhaps a drive if it fits)

Think of the stories that would be told of the swordsman who only strikes once, using his entire force of will against his opponents. People would fear getting into a fight with the PC, and rightly so...but, and this is a big one...he will lose eventually, and when he does, he'll lose big. Then all the stories will be postumous, they will be tales told by swordmasters to their students about the folly of not thinking one step ahead in a fight.

If, on the other hand, he is doing it because he knows that he will win against a Gol if he does, then I agree with most of the above posts. Make the Gol a better fighter, or use more of them, terrain...etc.

Sorry for thinking too much about story and character instead of specific combat tactics and rules (which were covered very well by the previous posts anyway) it's just the way I tend to think when I run games.

-Holt

Good point Holt.

Had he been a berserker there would have been no problem, but he is a silk-wearing sophisticated person of style. Even though he as a true bastard with Bad Reputation(the flaw), it still desn't fit very well with the fighting style in question.

Or is it perhaps so that it is a good tactic against inferior(i.e. smaller CP) foes to use all dice. In that case, I'll just let them use a shield-wall, those slinger-swordsmen, bows, wolf-cavalry, snipers, elite troops and whatnot.