Access Action: Just curious, what is the use of the Access action in Fight? It provides a bonus to perception checks, but how does that apply to combat? Looking at the chart is it opposed by some actions right? What is the designer’s intended use of the Access action. Does the Access bonus last until it is used, or does it disappear if not used? If so…when?
Engagement: I’m a little fuzzy on engagement, and I’ve got a few questions about it. Some situations have come up in our game and we weren’t sure what the answer was.
a. There are three characters and three enemies. Each enemy is engaged against a character. One character is a non-combatant. The non-combatant (A) is unable to disengage. When one character (B) finishes off his opponent and decides to engage the enemy on A at the beginning of the next volley. How is something like this handled? Does engagement break with A and the enemy engages B? Is the enemy engaged with both of them? Does he test for engagement to maintain it against both of them? If so, how is that resolved? Does he make one roll and compare his successes to both targets and get’s various engagement advantages/disadvantages?
b. One character (A) is out of engagement range with a crossbow. He had previously been shooting at the enemies. Another character (B), moves in to engage the enemies. We are no in Fight! rules. Can A still stay on the outskirts and take shots at the enemies that are currently engaged? Does he have to move into engagement range to fire? Additionally, A is a bit of a distance away, does it take any volleys for him to close into engagement range, or is it abstracted and assumed he can get into range quickly?
c. Can you engage in the middle of a volley if you finish an opponent off, or do you have to wait until the beginning of the next volley to engage?
d. Engagement priority & lock status: So let’s say you have three on two. Two enemies are trying to capture and drag off a character (A). Another is just trying to kill another character (B). Character A get’s locked and reduced to zero dice. Character B finishes off his opponent and moves to engage the two enemies holding A. Does he engage both of them? Just one of them? What happens to the lock on A if one of the people who did the lock is pulled off? How do you determine who has priority in the engagement? By that I mean, which engagement takes priority first? Is it assumed that character B engages one of the enemies and pulls him out of the engagement with character A, making it a 1 on 1 engagement?
e. Disengaging and running away: an enemy decides to run away either out of common sense or because of a Hesitation action. Assuming he successfully disengages. Is that character out of the combat and able to run away without having to worry about their opponents? If not, is it handled with Range and Cover? If I have the Run Screaming action scripted and I fail to disengage, is it assumed that I am probably being chased by my opponent or simply avoiding his blows in hopes of figuring out to get away in the next volley… or a little bit of both? If I disengage, and Run Screaming for 3 volleys, what does it take for me to re-engage if I want to?
Agility Modifiers for Armor: Since most combat skills are Agility based, I assume the +ob for wearing armor applies to all Agility based tests or is it only for actual Agility tests.
Avoid: If a target is attacked by a character with multiple actions in the same volley, does their avoid test apply to all attacks against them that volley, or just the first attack that volley from the same character. Effectively, are the actions sort of sub-phases of a volley and actions only apply in that specific sub-phase. I have gotten the impression that Avoid is unique, and applies to all actions that volley. If that is true, are there any other actions that behave that way? I see a reference to 'intervals" on page 461 BWG. Is a volley an interval or is one set of actions an interval?
Lock and Let it Ride: I’ve Locked a target down, and I want to use that as a means to carry them off away from the combat. How do you handle that sort of situation? Once the character has been dragged from the combat area, does let it ride apply and something has to change before they can try to break the lock again?
I’ve read on the forums that perception is open ended. Where can I find the information about perception being open ended? Does that also apply to perception based skills, or just the perception stat?
Assess doesn’t necessarily grant a bonus. You could use an assess action to look for a way out or for a weak spot on your opponent’s armor. For a little more narrative control a player could use Asses to spot/find useful objects nearby that they could use in some way.
2a. I don’t have a page reference, but there are rules for being engaged with multiple opponents and how it’s handled in the Fight chapter.
2b. To act against anyone in Fight, you must be engaged with them.
2c. No, check out Eye of the Storm
Just Agility.
It allows you to avoid mutltiple incoming strikes (or whatever) on the same action. So, if multiple people try to hit you on the first action of a volley and you avoid, it applies against all. If someone else hits you on action 2, the avoid doesn’t apply (unless you scripted another avoid for that action)
So what mechanical benefit does it grant you other than the a bonus for multiple actions? Do you not know what the capabilities of an opponents armor is when you enter combat? It sounds like you have very limited knowledge about combat while it is taking place. So would I not know that my friends have been killed in combat? Would I not know what armor my enemy is wearing, so I have to access to see where the best spot is to hit him? Would a person be able to make a skill check and hide, then disengaging and you have to script Access to engage him?
I guess what I am asking for is a mechanical example of Access being used and how that effects further actions. For example, I look at the Monster Burning and the Dragon has a recommended first volley of Access, Access. What is the purpose of that choice? How would those two scripted actions effect its next action of “Breath Fire”?
I get attacked by assassins while eating dinner; I script assess in order to locate any potential improvised weapons that might be conveniently lying around.
2d: There’s a lot of if-thens involved here. But the simplest thing to do is have the two characters locking down the one help each other. Thus they help with the lock and presumably help each other with the engagement test. The basic help rules indicate that one acts as the primary and the other helps. Thus the rescuing character would have to dislodge the primary somehow.
2e1. If you successfully disengage, you should be free to retire unless there are preestablished limitations – you’re fighting in an open field surrounded by bowmen, for example. Failing to let the character who successfully disengaged can easily break the rules for intent and LIR.
2e2. Yes, both characters are doing their best: one is running and dodging, the other is pursuing and presumably attacking.
2e3. If you manage to disengage, you need to use an Engage to get back in the fight. You’ll probably need a new weapon too, since you dropped yours when you chose Run Screaming.
I was confused with Engagement at first too. The simplest way to look at it is:
[ul][li]During an exchange: You can only act against opponents you are engaged with while in mid-exchange.
[/li][li]Between exchanges: If you are engaging an opponent, being engaged by an opponent, or are in the process of positioning against an opponent, roll Speed. Roll it once, no matter how many opponents you have. Don’t forget wound penalties. The result is compared to the Engagement / Positioning tests of any and all opponents you face.
[/li][li] Engagement / Positioning Advantage: Consult the tables and add bonus dice to your Speed if you qualify. Bonus dice for Positioning Advantage might have to be rolled separately from your Speed dice if you are engaging / positioning versus multiple opponents at once, and there are a variety of weapon lengths in play.[/ul]
[/li]It’s too easy to invent scenarios in your head and wonder, “But! But! What if…” I did it at first too. But what it really boils down to is just the three points above. They answer everything.
Also, see pages 459 to 461 for a few extra rules for Multiple Combatants.
I’ve used ‘assess’ to discover a muddy patch that gave us both an Ob.-penalty, which I needed to find my momentum. In the same fight I also discovered a hole to push my opponent into.
In the upcoming Fight!, which I hope will stay in Range & Cover, I’m going to have to spend an action to ‘assess’ were my lost (family) sword is.
I’m thinking ‘assess’ is useful for oh-so many things:
finding out that your buddy faces a difficult opponent and shout a warning!
finding terrain features/enviroment-features: A chair to smash over your opponent’s head, an oaken table to hide behind or slide over
finding clues about your (mysterious nightly) assailants!*
Finding the Sorcerorer in the fight, so someone can engage and kill before a spell takes out the whole party.
Find an escape rout, when the Town Watch catch you red-handed.
*) I remember a horrendous “random encounter” in Greyhawk, were non-descript grey elves ambushed our party in the middle of some plains. Nothing we could do found anything descript about them, and when a player tried to say that he found it strange that the reputedly scholary grey elves attacked us with weapons and died to an elf, the DM told him plainly that his character didn’t know that. Since BW don’t neccesarily have fights that end with a pile of corpses, the GM is well within his right to withold information unless the players spend assess actions. -“Now, were did that elf who stole my sword go!?”
So the part about you knowing what the GM tells you is a good reason. It sort of means the character is simply unaware of all the details. So knowing someone is wearing armor on their arms, but not their legs might be something like that.
It sounds like it is mostly useful for the creation of narrative stuff, like finding a chair to hit them with when it wasn’t stated weather there was a chair there or not. That actually makes it pretty useful.
Now at one point you made it sound like you were using it out of combat Fight!. Am I understanding you correctly?