Just a question about combat against more than one character.
Here I mean one character (like a PC for example) against 2 or maybe 3 ennemies. How do you handle it generally? I don’t think they should be classified as a gang (as long as they don’t exceed more than 3 to 1) so I don’t think you should call for a Face Death move for it.
Here’s what I thought about the matter :
I think that the player opposing 2 to 3 ennemies should maybe automatically at least take damage one time unless he chose the option of Outmaneuver during his Engage in Battle test or i don’t know maybe face Danger+steel if the player still want to be offensive? So if he didn’t manage to do so, maybe should he take the damage a second time? Or maybe suffered a +1harm ap?
I know that it seems a bit too hardcore perhaps but I really want the fights in COJ (at least the way I envision it) to be deadly and something the PCs should consider with caution.
What do you think?
I’ll answer tonight or tomorrow. But I’d love to hear from others how they played this sort of scenes 🙂
sub
So, here’s what I usually do:
* I don’t treat NPCs as gangs unless there’s like half-a-dozen involved in the fight.
* Still, if a character is 1 vs 2 or especially 1 vs 3 or 4, Engage in battle as a simple approach won’t work; there’s some price to pay to face a small group of enemies (even if they’re not a gang yet).
What I usually do is try to describe first of all the situation and then look for triggers for moves like Face Danger (+ Steel if the player is describing blocks or parries, + Edge if the player wants to avoid attacks), and also Face Death.
3 or 4 vs 1 sounds to me like badly outnumbered which is in the Face Death move trigger.
I don’t usually inflict harm unless, as GM, I can make a move – which can be as the result of a Face Danger or Face Death, or because the player ignores me when I describe a threat.
I also try to alternate moves: using different moves keeps a certain level of uncertainty in the fight. The outcomes of Face Danger + Steel and Face Death + Steel are different. A good ruling could be to call Face Danger while the enemies close in, and Face Death while the fight is at maximum level of danger.
A note: 3 or 4 vs 1 can be – and should be – a serious fight. Not necessarily deadly for the character, but something worth a moment of consideration before jumping in. At the same time, the NPCs don’t usually fight to death – unless they have a reason to.
When 4 guards fight a character and one of the guards dies, and a second is wounded, they’d probably start reconsidering 🙂 if they fought to death they’d probably kill the character, but often they won’t.
If you’re a group of four and know that the price to kill a stronger opponent is that also two of you will die, you tend to hold back.
I agree. I like the way you evoked here especially the different outcomes possibles. I guess every single combat should be adressed specifically as a unique moment and not just some kind of routine, which gets boring after a while… Well I guess that´s kinda a tough job for a GM but a challenging one indeed! Anyway thx for those very useful tips!