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From: mab@druca.UUCP (BlandMA)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: MERP Criticals (& Fumbles)
Message-ID: <937@druca.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 26-Jul-85 17:34:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: druca.937
Posted: Fri Jul 26 17:34:39 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 28-Jul-85 14:46:33 EDT
References: <161@ukc.UUCP> <500@mmintl.UUCP> <469@tymix.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Denver
Lines: 38

I agree with Tom Granvold that the probabilities of critical hits and
fumbles in RuneQuest are about right (1 in 20 successful hits is a
critical, 1 in 20 missed hits is a fumble:  the better you are with
your weapon, you critical more often and fumble less often).  In actual
play, there really aren't very many fumbles, and there is usually at
least one critical in each of our melees, but ordinarily not more than
one or two.

The previous discussion on RuneQuest fumbles focused on the "hit self
for maximum damage" fumble.  Actually, most RQ fumbles are far less
devastating.  As I look at the RQ3 fumble table, more than half of the
time a fumble will cause you to do something like lose your next
attack, drop your weapon or shield, or attack at a disadvantage during
the next round (because you were distracted or your vision was
impaired).  Only 6% of fumbles cause you to hit yourself, and another
6% cause you to hit a friend (those two trolls that hit themselves for
maximum damage were defying the odds).

But if you compare RQ combat with the critical hit tables in a game
like MERP or variant D&D, an "effectively" critical result does appear
to happen more often in RQ than simply 1 in 20 successful hits, because
of its detailed hit location system.  In a typical critical hit table,
one possible result of a critical hit might be to sever an arm, which
disables your opponent.  In RQ, however, a "normal" hit to your
opponent's arm can sever it if you roll enough damage.  A critical hit
in RQ does maximum damage, ignoring armor, so it is usually a disabling
blow.

What this means is that someone (PC or NPC) invariably gets disabled in
the first two or three rounds of a RQ melee, even if no "critical" hits
have been rolled.  This sounds much like the results that Joe Jaquinta,
the originator of this discussion, had with the MERP criticals.  The
lesson is that combat is deadly, you can be killed or maimed by one
good blow, so maybe combat should be a last resort (but trollkin-bashing
is so much fun...).

-- 
Alan Bland     ihnp4!druca!mab     AT&T Information Systems, Denver CO