A bit power-gaming:
I could create a Killer with a Neural Interface with Targeting Suite, Synth +2, and a custom weapon: rifle (3harm)+1harm (big and dangerous) +1harm(hi-powered)
He can cause 7 harm (3+1+1+2(synth from the cyberware)) and with AP bullet so he can kill everybody with a single roll. (6 harm+3 armor is the hardest enemy by RAW) and this is just a starting character.
I know that this game is a bit different, but my Killer player treats like an alternate Shadowrun/Cp2020. I’m not enemy of my players but if they could kill anybody with one roll, it’s narrow my opportunity. I have some reoccurring nemesis npc who survived one shot than ran away but with this combination I have no option.
Of course I can play a lot of soft/hard moves, and could distract them but in the end they want to roll and kill anybody.
What is your opinion about this?
I think this combination kills the joy of the game.
Also a bonus question: What for the valuable tag in the killer’s custom weapon? If he needs money he can sell it fora good price?
Anyone in the sprawl can kill someone with a single roll. Mix it up objective: kill x (presumably because the mission is an assassination), roll a 7+.
Killing people is easy. The question is what’s the mission about?
On the bonus question: yes, presumably the killer could sell it. It might also act as a status symbol in certain situations. It might also allow the Killer to fake selling it to et into places.
Think about all the reasons anyone might want to have something valuable. It’s seldom for re-sale.
You could go even more over the top than this by customizing an implanted monofilament whip to deal 9 harm straight off the bat with the right cyberware choices. Or 8 harm with breach…
I see your point but I’m not like it. Its killing the combat of the rpg. I know this a different kind but it is not my style. Altogether I like the system but I think we should use some house rules.
I had that kind of problems when I ran my first AW game. I talked a lot with guys using these kind of games since a long time, and I understood my mistake. Don’t think in terms of rules, think in terms of fiction. You don’t want to make your nemesis one shoted by your PCs ? Don’t give them that chance : maybe he’s never in sight, maybe there is too much goons between him and the PCs, maybe he is protected by an unbreakable glass or a magnetic field, maybe they just can’t reach him, maybe they don’t know his location or who he really is. And when it’s time, when they investigate enough, when they pass all the security defences, when they get through all of his goons, they can eventually shoot his head off. It’s not like a boss with 230HP, don’t focus on this kind of difficulty, focus on the story. And if it’s not a nemesis but just a big boss, it’s still not a problem. Don’t make him fight alone.
Hope it will help you 🙂
It abstracts the combat and deals with it narratively rather than in detail. Do check out Chapter 12; there are a few notes there on hacking to change combat to fit your tastes.
Yann Herpe another option is that you let the PC take out the Nemesis… And they come back patched together with badass cyberware!
Also, this kind of Nemesis is one of the things the Loner Threat is designed to encompass. There are many narrative options within the rules, but if you want to tweak the rules to add more detailed tactical crunch in combat, that’s an option too!
And sometimes, just shooting someone causes more problems than it solves.
Hamish Cameron I like your “I’ll be back” idea !
He also can have clones, or just be a little piece of a whole big thing 😉
I see your points but I like a different style (its matter of taste). BTW thanks for that you shared your viewpoint (and still waiting for the hardcopy)