Two questions on combat

[Hel-Yin]

I have two questions on combat manoeuvers.
The first one is on grappling.  In the book, it says you can do two things using a grapple: either toss your opponent a certain distance or put them down hard.    If you select to put them down hard, you do STR+1 damage distributed randomly to the body.    Does anything like armour or toughness reduce this damage?

The second questions is about blocking with shields.  What is the advantage of using a larger shield other than it providing more armour or  protecting a larger portion of the body?  In combat, your opponent will likely choose to hit areas which are not covered by the shield so you won't get the shield's passive armour bonus.
Does the shield's armour bonus get applied when the shield is used to block an attack?

SDR

[Jake Norwood]

I don't apply Armor to falls. For TO, subtract the TO from the total damage before dividing it up.

As for shield--the primary advantage to a shield is the improved DTN. The armor bonus does not apply if you fail to block. The shield's AV is only if someone tries to harm you through the shield.

Jake

[Hel-Yin]

Thanks for your reply.  So assuming that you get at least one success on blocking, you use the shield's armour value in reducing the damage.

These questions came up when one of my players, in a one-shot game, insisted in wearing the best armour and using the biggest shield.  It was very difficult to hurt him but with all that armour, his CP was reduced down to three dice.

On a slightly different note, that one-shot game was enough to convince one of the players (who is know for never being satisfied with any game mechanic) to recommend this game to others.

-SDR

[ShaneNINE]

(who is know for never being satisfied with any game mechanic) to recommend this game to others.

Hey! That's me! I just can't leave a game system alone. Some kind of debilitating gaming disorder, I suppose.

[Mokkurkalfe]

Another question.
Can you use both the active and passive defence of a shield?
That is, if someone attacks me where my shield is, do I lose the passive defence if I choose to block actively?

[Jake Norwood]

Thanks for your reply.  So assuming that you get at least one success on blocking, you use the shield's armour value in reducing the damage.

These questions came up when one of my players, in a one-shot game, insisted in wearing the best armour and using the biggest shield.  It was very difficult to hurt him but with all that armour, his CP was reduced down to three dice.

Um...no... The passive defense is just that, passive. It only applies if someone intentionally attacks your sheild. Blocking successes work just like parrying or dodging successes--they affect the final "margin of success."

[Jake Norwood]

Another question.
Can you use both the active and passive defence of a shield?
That is, if someone attacks me where my shield is, do I lose the passive defence if I choose to block actively?

Ah, in that case you *do* get both.

[Hel-Yin]

So for a one on one fight, you get no extra advantage from using a larger shield as the DTN are the same for all shields (except for bucklers).  Your opponent is not likely to strike where the shield is applying passive defence so using the biggest shield you can get makes no sense as it incures the biggest CP penalty.

[Mokkurkalfe]

Well, there are still *some* advantages. You don't have to buy as much armor if you have a large shield to cover the rest. It also has a higher chance to protect against counters.
I house-ruled that if you strike only two different areas in three times, then the opponent gets an extra dice the fourth time. And another one the fifth time, and so on. This forces the opponent to vary his strikes a little, which, if you have a large shield, will mean he has to strike at the shield itself sometimes.