Topic: Activity rules

[Dalewarrior]

Are these the standard RM2/Classic rules for activity in a round?

50% to attack with the right hand and another 50% to parry with the left hand with a shield or a main gauche or handaxe.
Or 50% to make a right hand attack and another 50% to make an attack with the left hand at -20 with a dagger or handaxe.
Or 50% to right hand attack and with the left hand make a melee scuffle or shield bash at -20.
50% to make a missile attack and another 50% for a second attack at -30 OB.
Attack & Move with  a -5 OB for every 5% of the Movement allowance up to a maximum of 50%.

How do you do it in your games?
Cheers,
DW

[Hurin]

Those would not be the standard rules, no.

Generally speaking, off-hand attacks don't take a separate % activity. Instead, you pay for the normal hand activity as normal, and then get the seconary attack as a bonus. But of course all these attacks come at a penalty if you spend less than 100% activity. The penalty is -1 per 1% less than 100 you spend on the attack.

So, in your example above, if you spent 50% activity you could attack at -50 with your main hand attack and also attack again with your left hand at -50 too. If you were not ambidextrous, that off hand attack would suffer an additional -20 penalty, for a total of -50 for the main attack and -70 for the off hand attack.

Parrying reduces the bonus for all attacks simultaneously. So if you parried with 50, that takes an additional 50 off everything. Movement does the same, so if you moved 50% of your movement, that's another -50 to all attacks in the round.

See the rules in Arms Law for a breakdown.

[MisterK]

I don't remember if it was a RM2 rule or if it only appeared later, but the minimum activity % that you can assign to a melee action is 50% (and if I remember well, the minimum activity % you can assign to a missile action is 30%, from a base activity% cost of 60%).

Just so you cannot say "I take -100% to the activity % requirement, so I attack at -100 with a 0% activity" - this would open a nasty singularity loop

[Hurin]

Yes, it was an RM2 core rule. It's in Arms Law: the minimum required to make a melee attack is 50%.

[Dalewarrior]

Hurin, thanks for your answer.
But this is standard right: Attack with the main weapon and make a second attack with melee scuffle or shield bash at -20?

[Hurin]

Hurin, thanks for your answer.
But this is standard right: Attack with the main weapon and make a second attack with melee scuffle or shield bash at -20?

It kind of depends on which version of two-weapon fighting you are using; there were a few different versions in RM2 (and I don't know Classic very well).

The -20 penalty seems to come from the off-hand (non-ambidextrous) penalty.

Then there would be an additional penalty if the character had no skill in Two-Weapon Fighting. See Rolemaster Companion II, p. 42, the skill listing for 'Two Weapon Combo'.