Frustrating Combat

[Waiwode]

Two "Roman" characters from the Riddle Combat Generator.  Both wearing the 4pt Chain armour the template comes with, one with a short spear, the other with a short sword.

I've run this combat seven times.  Four times it has run to the point of exhaustion for both characters.

Once when I got "tricky" said character moved on to victory.

In the other two cases getting tricky ended up costing the character a couple points of shock when the whole thing blew up in their face, so they got exhausted first.

What am I doing wrong?

Doug.

[toli]

What am I doing wrong?

Doug.

I'd say nothing.  If you have perfectly equal characters and know what each is doing, it would be statistically unlikely for one to beat the other.  

However, that is the beaty of TROS.  If you have statistically equal characters, but DON'T know what the other guy is planning...then there are lots of opportunities to be tricky.  

NT

[Eamon Voss]

Also, remember a turn in TROS is 1-2 seconds.  Fights, especially with armor and shields, can take a long time.  The point of armor and shields is to provide additional protection, in order to extend the life-span of the fighter.

Remember too that a Roman soldier was not an individual fighter.  They excelled in group combats, and their methods worked best under those conditions.  A Roman with stabbing short sword against a celt with a longsword is a fight in the celt's favor.  But put the Roman with 50 buddies and give the celts 50 buddies and things will work out differently.  Suddenly the long slashing sword of the celt is difficult to use in the literal press of battle, and the stabbing short sword becomes the weapon of choice.  Plus, each Roman purposefully supports the man on his left, working as a team. Shield against shield, the Roman equipment suddenly becomes an incredible advantage.

Such things are never well featured in role-playing games.  They belong in the purview of war games or mass combat systems.