Author Topic: How much is too much?  (Read 2510 times)

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Offline Spectre771

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How much is too much?
« on: July 15, 2019, 02:39:30 PM »
This situation popped up during this weekend's gaming session.  While we were playing RM2, it applies to any game mechanic.

A player took a crit for 4 rounds of stun.  No worries there.
The second round, he took 20 rounds of stun.
The third round, he had the same crit result and had another 20 rounds of stun.

Now I'm looking at 42 rounds of stun for him.  Forget Stunned Maneuver.  The hit points taken were low, no injuries/broken bones, and there were no additional hits lost from the crits, just tons o' stun.

I told him he was having the worst hangover of his life and the sad part was that he didn't even get to have any alcohol.  The PC was lolling around on the ground trying to stay up on his hands and knees but failing at that.

At what point has a PC been knocked so far inept that you just tell him to lay down?

 I've been popped in the head and have been stunned for a few seconds before.  A friend of my mine had a concussion and was arguably "stunned and out of it" for several hours.  Somewhere between concussed and 42 rounds of stun, something should happen.
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Offline Hurin

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2019, 02:44:04 PM »
Didn't one of the companions have a rule that when you took over a certain number of stuns, you went unconscious? Maybe that was a houserule.
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Offline Spectre771

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2019, 02:50:25 PM »
Didn't one of the companions have a rule that when you took over a certain number of stuns, you went unconscious? Maybe that was a houserule.

That's what I thought too, but I didn't want to break the game to look for it.  At that point, being hit only three times to do several minutes of stun should just be too much for the human body.  Maybe not a dwarf though.  I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
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Offline Peter R

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2019, 05:13:16 AM »
Arms Law
This is the RMC version page 51
ADDITIONAL
EFFECTS OF “STUN” ROUNDS
A combatant’s total hit points are the
number of hits they can take without
becoming unconscious (see Section 5.5). A
combatant will also lose consciousness if
their total number of accumulated rounds
of “stuns” exceeds:
ß = 5 + [the combatant’s total hit points /
10] (round off)
If not unconscious due to some other
cause, a combatant will regain consciousness
when their total accumulated rounds
of “stuns” become less than ß above.
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Offline Hurin

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2019, 10:05:38 AM »
Nice find! That was it.
'Last of all, Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed'. --J.R.R. Tolkien

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Offline Peter R

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2019, 04:37:41 AM »
So your player would almost certainly blacked out after the first 20 round stun result for a few rounds and when they came to would have been very unsteady on their feet. They possibly would not have been the target for the second hit that did the other 20 rounds of stun?
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Offline Spectre771

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2019, 05:55:09 AM »
Thank you for the find.   That's what I assumed.  It just made no sense that the took so much stun and would still be somewhat coherent.  I just had him lolling around on his hands and knees, then falling to the ground unable to speak.

He was in a stun cloud and for every round in the area of effect, he took stun a stun crit.  No one could get to him to retrieve him.
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Offline OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2019, 04:16:54 AM »
It's not an only RMC rule and had existed in RM2 as an optional rule (section 9.10, "Additional effects of "stun" rounds"). It should be around p26, depending on your version of AL&CL.
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #8 on: July 23, 2019, 08:56:12 PM »
We halved the number of stun rounds across the board (and rounded up).
If you think about it, in the end, all it really does is prolong fights.  Sometimes you stun then, sometimes they stun you.  Just more rounds sitting around doing nothing on both ends.
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Offline jdale

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #9 on: July 23, 2019, 09:44:09 PM »
Stun can also speed up fights. You've got a bonus to hit, and don't need to parry; that could result in more severe hits that take the foe out sooner. Speeding up fights is not necessarily advantageous if you're the one getting stunned of course. :)
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Offline OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #10 on: July 24, 2019, 10:31:15 AM »
I'd be more inclined to agree with Cory, as, but for the rare "stun no parry" case, a stunned character may still parry with up to half his OB. Considering he may not attack, it does mean he'd parry with the whole half OB, which most often than not makes him untouchable.
The world was then consumed by darkness, and mankind was devoured alive and cast into hell, led by a jubilant 紗羽. She rejoiced in being able to continue serving the gods, thus perpetuating her travels across worlds to destroy them. She looked at her doll and, remembering their promises, told her: "You see, my dear, we succeeded! We've become legends! We've become villains! We've become witches!" She then laughed with a joyful, childlike laughter, just as she kept doing for all of eternity.

Offline Peter R

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #11 on: July 25, 2019, 02:11:01 AM »
My experience is in line with Cory and Olf. Stun just drags things out.
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Offline Spectre771

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #12 on: July 25, 2019, 12:19:57 PM »
In this case, the debilitating stun resulted in the player sinking into (being pulled under) the earth.  His inactivity and the players' inability to get to him was leading to his eventual demise.  Once the giant roaches pulled the stunned PC under the earth, he was a dead man anyway.  It was a very exciting, rather humourous, tense scene.  His stuns were speeding up his death! :D  it was a blast.


If discretion is the better valor and
cowardice the better part of judgment,
let's all be heroes and run away!

Offline Frabby

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #13 on: September 10, 2019, 06:05:40 AM »
I too recall a rule from somewhere - Arms Companion perhaps? - that said a character is unconscious if his #Rounds/Stunned is greater than his Co / 10, rounded up. So you need a Co of 91 or better to not fall unconscious when you've accumulated 10 rounds of stun.
Once a character's remaining outstanding rounds of stun fall below the threshold, he'll recover from unconsciousness but of course still be under the effect of Stun.

Offline Spectre771

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #14 on: September 13, 2019, 07:34:12 AM »
I too recall a rule from somewhere - Arms Companion perhaps? - that said a character is unconscious if his #Rounds/Stunned is greater than his Co / 10, rounded up. So you need a Co of 91 or better to not fall unconscious when you've accumulated 10 rounds of stun.
Once a character's remaining outstanding rounds of stun fall below the threshold, he'll recover from unconsciousness but of course still be under the effect of Stun.

That is interesting.  I like that as I have players getting lots of rounds of stun.  This may help speed up combat if the PC goes unconscious.  I'll take a look through Arms Companion to see if it's there.
If discretion is the better valor and
cowardice the better part of judgment,
let's all be heroes and run away!

Offline Hurin

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Re: How much is too much?
« Reply #15 on: September 13, 2019, 09:16:40 AM »
I remember that rule too and I think we discussed it relatively recently on these boards. I had a quick scan through the Arms Companion and couldn't find it; maybe I missed it. It might be in one of the other companions though.
'Last of all, Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed'. --J.R.R. Tolkien

'Every party needs at least one insane person.'  --Aspen of the Jade Isle