Re: (TFT) SPOILER TFT Deathtest Spiders

["joel siragher" <joel.siragher@gmail.com>]

Wow that was one GREAT write up.  I appreciate all the effort you put into
that.

>> even though the spiders only have an MA of 4
That is how I thought it would go. But I wasnt sure if I was right.

Im not so far off from understanding gming for TFT. some poor slobs will
great benefit from this explanation.


On Sun, Sep 14, 2008 at 3:22 AM, Sgt Hulka <hulkasgt@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I ran this room not too long ago and realized I had run it completely wrong
> when I played solitaire. Here's my interpretation:
>
> "Their MA is 4 but they move INTO your hex..." I interpret this to be a
> special condition that contradicts the usual requirement to move into your
> hex: "if the enemy has his back to a wall, is lying down, is prone, is
> kneeling, has a lower MA, agrees to HTH combat or is attacked through his
> side or rear hex." So, in other words, I interpret this to mean something
> like "even though the spiders only have an MA of 4, they can still enter
> your hex and initiate HTH combat without having to go through a side or rear
> hex or without having to pin you against a wall."
>
> "NOTE: Combat with a spider is considered HTH combat..." I interpret that
> to mean that spiders must initiate HTH combat in the same way any other
> creature does:
>
> "When a figure is attacked HTH, it immediately rolls one die to determine
> its defense against the HTH attack, as follows:
>
> On a roll of 1 or 2, the defender drops his ready weapon and/or shield
> (unless ready weapon is a dagger) and fights bare-handed. Both figures fall
> to the ground in the defenderb s hex.
>
> On a roll of 3 or 4, the defender drops his ready weapon and/or shield, but
> has time to ready his dagger if he has one. He will be able to use it in his
> next attack. Both figures fall to the ground in the defenderb s hex.
>
> On a roll of 5, the defender does not drop his weapon, and the attacker
> immediately backs up to the hex from which he entered the defenderb s hex.
> HTH combat does not take place.
>
> On a roll of 6, the defender does not drop his weapon, and AUTOMATICALLY
> gets a hit on the attacker even if the defender had already attacked that
> turn!) The attacker must retreat one hex as above. HTH combat does not take
> place. (If the attacker jumped the defender from behind, ignore a 6 and roll
> again.)" But then there is also the Melee Rule: "When two figures are
> rolling around fighting, any other figure can move onto that hex and join
> the brawl, using action (b) or (k), without rolling to see if the attempt is
> successful."
>
> Using those rules, Wulf might gut a spider or two before the rest manage to
> jump on them, or at least cause a few to "back off". So, for example, say 6
> jump on Wulf. Using my handy TFT Dice roller applet in Java Wulf rolls a 3,
> 5, 3, 3, 2, 1. Spider One successfully jumps on Wulf and causes him to drop
> his sword but Wulf does manage to draw his dagger. The rolls of Spiders Two
> to Six are ignored because Wulf is already in HTH and they can automatically
> join.
>
> "Since it's HTH your DX is +4. The Spiders do NOT get a +4." I interpret
> that to be a reference to Melee rule: "Since figures in HTH combat are on
> the ground and/or grappling with their foe(s), they always get the +4 b rear
> hexb  DX adjustment." So Wulf gets +4 to his DX hitting the spiders in the
> back, but Wulf is probably still standing up, though he's covered in
> Spiders, so that's why they probably don't get the +4.
>
> "If you ignore your own Spiders and hang onto your weapon, you can use it
> to strike at spiders on other figures...Hope you hit the Spiders and not
> your friend..." I interpret this to be special exception to the Melee rule:
> "Figures on the ground in HTH combat can ONLY attack the enemies they are in
> HTH combat with. They may attempt to disengage according to the
> disengagement rules." This special exception would allow Flavius, even
> though he's covered with six of his own Spiders, to help Wulf. The Melee
> rule that governs this help is: "If a standing figure attacks an enemy who
> is down in HTH combat with other figures, and misses, he then rolls for each
> other enemy in the HTH combat, and then for each friend, until he hits
> someone." To be honest, I'm not sure how a person could hold onto his weapon
> since that isn't an option in engaging in HTH. So I think that part must be
> an exception to the rule as well...you don't NEED to drop your weapon when
> engaged
>  by the Spiders in HTH, but if you don't you can't strike them back in HTH,
> you only help a friend.
>
> So let's play out Wulf and Flavius' attack by the spiders. We've already
> determined all six have jumped on Wulf. Now we roll for Flavius: 3, 6, 3, 4,
> 5. Just like Wulf, the first manages to engage Flavius so the rest do so
> automatically. Flavius may choose to drop his sword and draw a dagger, but
> instead he decides to hold onto his sword, trusting his armor to protect
> him. The Movement phase of the spiders ends.
>
> During the movement phase of Flavius and Wulf, they couldn't normally move,
> since they're in HTH, but there is a special rule in Death Test that says
> they "stay with you whenever you move until they die or you do." I interpret
> this to mean that you can't disengage with the Spiders because they'll
> follow you. But let's assume Flavius and Wulf were adjacent to each other
> when they opened the chest, so Flavius doesn't have to move to help Wulf.
> The Wulf has adjDX 14, Flavius and the Spiders both have adjDX 12. Wulf
> attacks first.
>
> Wulf has a Dagger. He rolls a 10 and hits a Spider. Any hit will kill the
> spider, so he only has 5 on him.
>
> Now Flavius and the Spiders roll to see who attacks first, starting with
> Flavius' Spiders and then moving onto Wulf. Flavius: 4. Spiders: 6, 4, 5, 5,
> 3, 3, 6, 4, 2, 4, 4.
>
> Instead of rolling "off" the fours in the interest of time we first just
> roll to see if it makes a difference. So first we roll four attacks against
> Flavius to see if any critical hits penetrate his chainmail: 6, 8, 14, 10.
> Three hit but none penetrate the armor. Now we roll the four against Wulf,
> with the understanding that Flavius might actually get to attack before
> three of the four: 10, 10, 8, 6. All four hit Wulf. That would be 8 hits,
> enough to knock Wulf down (which, incidentally, is irrelevant since he's
> already in HTH). It doesn't really matter if Flavius attacks before or after
> the Spiders, so he makes his attack now: 11. He hits and kills another of
> Wulf's Spiders. Now Flavius' remaining Spiders attack: 6, 6. Still no crits.
> Now Wulf's Remaining Spider attacks: 7, it hits for 2.
>
> The round is over. Wulf has taken 10 hits. Flavius has taken 0. Six Spiders
> remain on Flavius; only four remain on Wulf.
>
> In the new turn there is no movement since everyone is in HTH. Wulf is at
> -2 AdjDX because he took more than 5 hits last round. That could be his
> deathknell, because everyone attacks at the same AdjDX. First his and
> Flavius' the roll-off against Wulf's remaining Spiders. Flavius: 3. Wulf: 6.
> Spiders: 6, 6, 4, 1.
>
> Wulf still has to roll off against two of the Spiders. Wulf: 4. Spiders: 4,
> 4. Wouldn't you know it they have to roll-off again. Wulf: 1. Spiders: 3, 5.
> Poor Wulf gets attacked by two of the Spiders first: 5, 14. Wulf gets hit by
> the first one for 2. He's now at only 2 ST, which drops his AdjDX to 9. So
> one of the two remaining Spiders attack: 12, a hit. Wulf is killed. Flavius
> finally gets to attack: 12 he kills another spider. Finally, the Six Spiders
> on Flavius attack: 9, 13, 10, 13, 9, 7. None hit so Flavius is safe.
>
> In the next movement phase, there are 3 Spiders on Wulf's dead body hex.
> They move onto Flavius' hex so that they engage him in HTH. Since Flavius is
> already engaged in HTH, they don't have to roll.
>
> Now Flavius is going to have to attempt to draw his dagger as per Melee
> rule: "A figure engaged in HTH combat may try to draw and ready its dagger
> (if it has one) by picking action (q). On a roll of 1, 2, or 3, the dagger
> was drawn and readied; otherwise, nothing happened." He basically had better
> hope that he draws his dagger and kills the Spiders before any of them crit
> him.
>
> Even if you want to be completely hardcore like you're being, by using
> nothing but pre-gens and 32-point characters at that, you should at least
> add Ragnar and Yzor (from Wizard) to the mix. Deathtest is supposed to be
> played with 4 characters. With Ragnar and Yzor to siphon off some of those
> Spiders, Wulf would probably survive.
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