How to prevent someone from going past you? and some other q

[chade0]

You are guarding an open gate and an evol thief or thieves are trying to run past you...

How would you slash them with your sword while they're trying past you? Or what should they throw to see if they make it?

another question:

You are in melee combat and the only weapon you have is a crossbow (ready to use). Can you try to shoot the foe right next to you with it? Do you use your missile or combat pool for dodging while using a ranged weapon in melee?

Another pretty similar situation:

two archers or knife throwers or whatever are within 20ft of each other
both shooting/throwing each other. Can they dodge too? Do they use their missile or combat pool to dodge?

And what about moving in combat..:

While in melee combat, combatants move constantly... in to which direction? players/GM's decision? What if you are in a corner and can not move? -x cp ?



Thanks for all.

[Ville]

I would like to add something similar.

A exceptionally great fighter that had Greatsword CP 20 dice.

He finds himself without any weapons at all. Someone is attacking him with an axe. Now logically he would like to dodge the attack.
Since he is now without his say 20pound piece of steel how much he has in his CP to dodge?
Surely he can't have more difficult time dodging now that he is without his sword?

One more:
Our valiant fighter is with his sword and he parries his opponents blow, swords lock together in a shower of sparks. He decides to kick his opponent away from him...
Kicking in swordfight. I am not sure how historically accurate it was but it definitely is one more attack and it has its place in "pseudo cinematic" swordplay also.
But since the proficienciy does not include kicking should he use default? You see if this is the case no-one will ever kick.

[Lance D. Allen]

Ville,

Kicking: Jake has mentioned before that some of the proficiencies did not have all of the maneuvers that maybe should be included, and that each person should use his own common sense and interpretation of the game to determine if it would be in there. So, yeah, let him kick. Give him maybe a slightly increased activation cost, to reflect the difficulty of changing gears in the middle of a sword duel. Or not.

Dodging: I'd allow him to use his full CP, but that's just me. It could be argued that the sword is used to assist in evasion, and so he's not as experienced in dodging without it, so he would have to default to brawling. Either way works.

chade,

thieves: declare stance if feasible, decide if initiative needs to be dropped (ie, if the offensive or defensive choices of the characters are in doubt) if so, drop it. f not, the guarding character declares his cut location and dice, and the thief declares a parry, or an evasion, or whatever, as normal. Apply terrain dice as you deem necessary to reflect the fact that one character is guarding a gate, and that the other is running.

crossbow: If it's ready to use, aimed at a target, hell yeah you can shoot someone within melee range. You'd use missile pool to shoot, obviously. As for dodging.. I'd probably default that purely to reflex, but you'd not be able to do any of the preparations on the crossbow, or refresh any of your missile pool dice while actively dodging.

two ranged attacks: I'd use the rule as above. If they throw at the same time, it's highly unlikely that either will get a chance to dodge successfully, though, as their attention will be focused on the throw, rather than dodging. Alternately, it will be a sloppy throw, because their focus will be on avoiding the incoming projectile.

movement: Any time there is a question of movement, use terrain. The direction of movement, if the player (or Seneschal for NPCs) chooses, can be in a specific direction, such as toward an area advantageous to one or the other combatant. Use terrain to determine if you can successfully maneuver your opponent where you want them. To fight in a cornered area, or any area that restricts movement, use terrain rolls. Terrain rolls are your best friend when determining almost anything movement-wise in combat, as well as a few things that aren't directly related to movement.

[Ashren Va'Hale]

just because I am a dork about this, I have to correct the weight given for the great sword. THEY WERE NOT 20 POUNDS! the were much lighter than that.

Otherwise I let the unarmed swordsman use his full 20 for dodging as evading is evading is evading.

[Salamander]

Now logically he would like to dodge the attack.
Since he is now without his say 20pound piece of steel how much he has in his CP to dodge?

Head---keyboard
*SMAKSMAKSMAKSMAKSMAKSMAKSMAKSMAKSMAK*
OH.... GAWD!

Okay, I'm calm now. A great sword typically weighs about 3-4.5 pounds. My longsword I just got from LUTEL//www.lutel.cz weighs about 3.5-4.0 I am guessing. and it is fast and lively lemme tell ya. Sadly (I do not blame you Ville) it is a very common misconception that was brought about my many factors, all of which are not pertinent to this discussion...

[Salamander]

I would like to add something similar.

A exceptionally great fighter that had Greatsword CP 20 dice.

He finds himself without any weapons at all. Someone is attacking him with an axe. Now logically he would like to dodge the attack.
Since he is now without his say 20pound piece of steel how much he has in his CP to dodge?

I would rule that he has his full CP available to him and that he would be able to attempt to dodge, but then, he should RUN!

Surely he can't have more difficult time dodging now that he is without his sword?

Exactly right.

One more:
Our valiant fighter is with his sword and he parries his opponents blow, swords lock together in a shower of sparks. He decides to kick his opponent away from him...
Kicking in swordfight. I am not sure how historically accurate it was but it definitely is one more attack and it has its place in "pseudo cinematic" swordplay also.
But since the proficienciy does not include kicking should he use default? You see if this is the case no-one will ever kick.

Okay, first off, there were no shower of sparks, pretty much EVER, a movieism that we have fallen victim to, I'm afraid. Also, personally  would have set up to counter instead if I could. If you want to kick, I say go for it. Several Fecht Meisters actually promoted kicking. Lichtenauer, Doebringer, Mayer, Talhoffer all use kicks in their works. In my case I would say a kick would have an activation cost of something like 1 or 2CP, but if successful the bad guy is on the ground and only has 1/3 of his remaining CP available. Kicks were generally used to ground an opponent so you could bust him up with your weapon from on high... another bonus of 2CP for you BTW... :D

[Ville]

Sorry guys the 20 pound thing , just wanted to make a point. I have held all kinds of swords and practised with them.
As for the shower of sparks I have seen video of swedish guys fighting with greatsword and there actually were sparks flying when they made contact (yeah not a shower I must admit that. On the other hand I guess you agree that there are no fire breathing wyrms or trolls either...)

I also let my players use the highest dice pool for dodging but you see here is when it gets hard:
Our valiant fighter who is once again missing his lead made doppelhander of 20 pounds is now holding a knife.
He still wants to dodge.
Default for dagger is -4.
What do you say, can he use his full doppelhander cp to evade. Should he use -4? Or should he drop the knife to get the highest cp(doppelhander)?
Yes I know, use common sense.
I have no proble in allowing the players to use his highest cp in these cases. But what if it is not a knife but a short sword? rapier? Where to draw the line?

[Salamander]

Sorry guys the 20 pound thing , just wanted to make a point. I have held all kinds of swords and practised with them.
As for the shower of sparks I have seen video of swedish guys fighting with greatsword and there actually were sparks flying when they made contact (yeah not a shower I must admit that. On the other hand I guess you agree that there are no fire breathing wyrms or trolls either...)

....What are you saying...? that there are no Dragons?!?!?!?! I'M NOT LISTENING! *claps hands over ears and squints eyes shut* LALALALALALA!!! ;)

I also let my players use the highest dice pool for dodging but you see here is when it gets hard:
Our valiant fighter who is once again missing his lead made doppelhander of 20 pounds is now holding a knife.
He still wants to dodge.
Default for dagger is -4.
What do you say, can he use his full doppelhander cp to evade. Should he use -4? Or should he drop the knife to get the highest cp(doppelhander)?
Yes I know, use common sense.
I have no proble in allowing the players to use his highest cp in these cases. But what if it is not a knife but a short sword? rapier? Where to draw the line?

I see your problem. I would say that he could use the CP for the highest, as long as he is not attacking. So his 20CP would be used to get out and find a doppelhander. And his Dagger proficiency would have a ceiling of 6, unless he's purchased that proficiency and so on...

As for the other weapons, again, he would max out his proficiency at 6 unless he has purchased those proficincies as well.

Also on other caveat. The proficiency level, when only at default, do not allow the use of any of the special maneouvers involved with that proficiency, you have to buy the proficiency to get those...

Hope this helps.

[Jake Norwood]

I don't have it on me, but I'm pretty sure the rulebook says to use MP to dodge when actively using a missile weapon. You could default out to Reflex, but that would, IMO, mean that refresh would have to re-start.

Jake

[failrate]

When dodging in a swordfight, often just having a sword gives you an advantage, because you can use its sharp, pointy length to keep your opponent at a comfortable distance.  So, I guess the correct answer would be that it would be just as easy or easier to dodge without a sword, but that the opponent could get in a little closer before swinging.