(TFT) Finesse in Melee Combat

["Dave Seagraves" <dseagraves@austin.rr.com>]

   Hey guys, here's a GURPS-like optional rule I came up with last night
while thinking about the lack of scalability in TFT combat.  It is only
thought-tested and not playtested at all, but I think it might just work out
and improve the game.  This rule also needs some number crunching to check
for play balance.  Please tell me what you think/discover.

Finesse in Melee Combat
   With this optional rule a figure may choose how much aggression or
finesse to use when making melee attacks.  When a figure makes an attack
roll he now /chooses/ how many dice to roll against his adjDX to hit.  The
catch is, if the attack succeeds the defender gets a /defense roll/ to try
to avoid an actual hit.  A defense roll is made just like an attack roll,
except that the defender rolls one more die than the attacker rolled.  (It's
easier for an attacker to hit a defender's body than a defender to parry an
attacker's smaller and faster weapon to keep from being hit.)  Any figure
without a weapon or other object to parry with (including most animals) must
roll /two/ more dice when making defense rolls.
   /Example: Gnorts hacks at an Orc with his battleaxe.  His adjDX of 9 is
low so he chooses to roll just 2 dice.  He rolls a 7.  Gnorts' player tells
the GM, "I hit.  Roll three dice to defend."  The Orc must now make a 3-die
defense roll to parry or block Gnort's mighty blow or take a battleaxe worth
of damage./
   Instead of the attacker having to roll more dice against an opponent who
has taken the /Defend/ option, the defender rolls one less die on his
defense roll.  So in the above example a defending Orc must make a 2-die
defense roll -- same as the attacker.
   Of course a defender cannot make a defense roll in certain situations,
such as when unconscious, asleep, under a Freeze spell, his side or back
facing the attacker, etc.  In these cases the attacker only has to make an
attack roll if he has other enemies present who are /not/ helpless,
otherwise he does not have to make an attack roll and the hit is automatic.
   This procedure also works with other types of attacks.  Thrown and
missile attack rolls are made with a flat 3-die roll, just like normal.  A
defense roll against a thrown weapon is four dice, missile attacks are
/five/ dice.  Subtract a die if the defender is /Dodging/.  Of course
attacks too fast and/or invisible to parry or dodge (bullets, magic fists,
lightning, most other spells) do not get a defense roll at all.
Hand-to-Hand combat remains unchanged.

   This optional rule affects character design and improvement decisions.
It gives experienced front-line characters a reason to develop their
adjusted DX's beyond 15 and become more skillful, instead of just stopping
at 15 or so and buying up their ST ad nauseam.  It also may make
high-ST/low-DX characters more desirable to create and play (instead of most
players automatically taking a high-DX fighter because they are normally
more efficient in combat).  Indeed, Conan-types may now rule the TFT
battlefields!
   The rule also makes fights more interesting.  High-DX fighters can use
finesse and fancy weapon maneuvers (i.e. rolling more dice to take advantage
of their high DX's) to get under their opponents' guard (forcing them to
roll more dice to defend).  Players with low-DX characters have more fun
because they can use the brute-force approach (i.e. rolling fewer dice) and
actually hit their opponents more often in a fight (just a little bad luck
with the dice can be frustrating for low-DX types).  They also have a reason
to stick around when it's not their character's turn so they can make
defense rolls.

Pfc. Dave Seagraves   101st Airborne Division
Texas Military Historical Society (WWII reenactors)
Sniper squad forming to defeat the krauts -- join us!
1 (512) 835-7527   http://members.aol.com/txmhs


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