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RQ Rules Digest:         Thursday, 10 November 1994     Volume 01 : Number 008


RULES OF THE ROAD

1. Do not include large sections of a message in your reply. Especially
   not to say "Yeah, I agree."  Those who do will be lynched.
2. Use an appropriate Subject line. RQR: will be prepended to it.
3. Do not engage in a point-by-point analysis or rebuttal of another
   person's message.  It is too confusing for others to follow,
   qualifies as nit-picking, and it usually leads to flame wars.
4. There is no number 4.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

RQR: Re: RQ Rules Digest: V1 #7

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: brandon@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov (Brandon Brylawski)
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 94 11:15:06 EST
Subject: RQR: Re: RQ Rules Digest: V1 #7

Several people responded that the way I did spirit combat was messed up,
in that evenly-matched characters would whittle one another down until 
neither could affect the other.

I agree that this might occur. We haven't played this rule extensively;
it has worked OK in the few spirit combats that have occurred, but I can
see the problem. I wrote this rule to be analogous to spell resistance and
to ameliorate the problem of small differences in mps winning or losing a spiritcombat. I never liked the fact that a POW 15 character had an even chance 
against  a POW 15 spirit, _but_ if he had just thrown a bladesharp 4, he
got creamed. Perhaps the rule should use POW in all cases, rather than MPs.
This makes sense as an analogy to regulart combat - after all, one's skills
don't decrease as combat goes on, unless one gets sorely wounded. That
would make the amended rule read :

SPIRIT COMBAT.
 
Spirit Combat is performed like regular combat, except that one's attack is
equal to POW x 5%, and one's defense is equal to POW x 5%.
A character being attacked who does not actively defend uses half this 
percentage. Having low magic points decreases your skills: for every full
POW/4 mps cast/lost, attack and defense skill are at -10%.

Spirit attacks take place on DEX SR, or 1 for disembodied spirits.
 
The results of a spirit attack (modifed as usual for level of defense) 
are as follows :
 
Fumble  (only on 00) :  Attacker loses one action next round and D6 mps.
Normal Success :        Defender loses D6 mps.
Special :               Defender loses 2D6 mps.
Critical :              Defender loses all remaining mps, and is overcome.


 
A character with zero mps who must lose mps in combat is overcome. An attacker
who overcomes his target may knock him unconscious, possess him, or afflict
him.



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End of RQ Rules Digest: V1 #8
*****************************


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