But if you're good in bed, your ally spirit will be more likely to stick around if it goes Free for some reason.

I've been called a lot of things, but macho is not one of them. Do I need to show more leg?

That's because those of us who've been around here for a few years, and before that the FASA forums, have told all the possible sick jokes about sex and ally spirits. also you can add: "cyberzombie, nija vampires" and "what use is there for a silvergun."

If you have to ask, the answer to that question is always yes.

-Frank

And of course, there's always the woodchu#$% @13#^$3@#$*^&^NO CARRIER

What, you think anyone on the internet's gonna say "no" to a question like that?

Nah, it's not that bad but it's a little more realistic. Plus it gives you a good reason to have a high Willpower other then as defense against magic or hostile social situations.

If you have a character with a Willpower of 5 or 6 and Combat Training of 6 or higher you can probably take a Moderate wound and keep functioning. But if you take a Serious then probably not unless you have mods. But if you take a Serious physical wound to any part of the body then you are probably going to be useless for at least 18 seconds. (We use the 3 second Real Time per Combat Turn rule.)

Of course you can still perform Free Actions, sorry if I didn't mention that before, but that's it.

Plus it allows for heroic action movie stuff. You know the whole covering fire and pulling your buddy out of harm's way. Or getting shot in the process. Creates some nice drama.

But it's like I tell my players, "Whatever affects you also affects the NPCs too."

Well I have some convincing arguments for going lethal.

1. Non-lethal, as far drugs go takes a little bit of time to work. If you go by the each combat turn is 3 seconds rule then it probably isn't instantaneous. Also clothing, especially armored clothing, is going to slow the process down even more.

2. Gel rounds, tasers, or other non-lethal non-drug stuff are rather limiting. Those include range, impact, and reload times.

3. Magic is the exception here but if you are like my team you only ask to your mage to go non-lethal when you want non-lethal for that purpose. (No I don't like hellblast either. Well, not all the time anyway. ) We tend to use magic in more indirect ways, Masks, Chaotic World, Sterilize, that sort of stuff. If the mage is non-lethaling everyone then the mage can get out commission pretty quick.

4. Also gel rounds, DMSO, bean bag guns and most non-lethal stuff is actually more exotic then plain old ammunition. Meaning it's easier for cops to trace you.

Look I'm not saying you should blow everything and everyone away at the drop of a hat, but let's look at non-lethal combat for what it really is: a hindrance. Most people I have heard talk about non-lethal combat in SR make it sound like Non-lethal combat is just as effective as lethal combat, which it is isn't.

Actually, it is that bad. There's no way you can expect 3 sucesses vs. a TN of 6 with a Willpower of 5 or 6 and a 6 in a complementary skill. (and having to spend 6 points on a complimentary skill to be even marginally viable is one hell of a kick in the nuts - those would be much better spent on the pain resistance edge, anyway...) Roughly speaking, you need to be rolling 18 dice to have a 50/50 chance of making those odds, so even if you use Karma, it's a long shot.

I'm not trying to convince you not to play the way you like, mind you - just saying that, mathematically speaking, those are extremely harsh rules. Anything more than a light wound equals instant incapacitation for virtually all characters without pain resistance.

Unless I misunderstood the rules - does the TN equal 4 plus the mods for the wound you just took, or the wound mods you were suffering from other wounds, prior to taking the wound you're trying to resist?

well either that or not just no but heck no

Worst. Advice. Ever. Let's get some equivalents here:

"The mage is never to cast spells that cannot be purchased at the local national chain bookstore."

"The streetsam is never to use cyber that cannot be purchased at the local legal clinic."

"The Decker is never to use hardware that cannot be found at a local elementary school."

~J

I would, instead, say "a rigger's job, among other things, is to provide..."

But, yeah.

Great. I finally find a low rise jean I like and now guys want the leg to go up. I'm not doing a Daisy Duke!

birdy, you wouldnt say that to my elven phys ad, yeah, the one with the salvette shoved in your eye.

That guy falls under the melee expert heading.

My Bad. Sorry I didn't clarify. No you suffer wound modifiers from previous wounds. And Combat Training functions like a special knowledge skill. You use Knowledge Points to buy it at character creation and use karma per knowledge skill rules to increase it. There is no training time to increase it because it is assumed you spend karma on it you receive from combat.

As rolling it as complementary skill: successes equal 1/1 not the normal 2/1. So it rolls like an Active Skill. The down side is that you have to get special training to get it so high and then from then on it takes actually combat experience i.e. Karma.

Combat Skill break down:

1. Gangbanger, anyone who fights a lot, or comes from a rough war-torn environment. Police Training or Basic Military Training
2. Someone who has had continuous police or basic military training in combat arms.
3. Special Training: Rangers, Para-Rescue
4. Elite Special Forces: SEALs, Force Recon

5+: Actual Combat Experience

Oh yeah! It can't be any higher then your Small Unit Tactics Skill, also a knowledge skill.

And remember it is on wounds you don't resist damage on. If you are hit with an S physical but reduce it to a L, then roll against a L.

Raygun has similiar skill on his website.

Hey, only two spelling errors - less than I produce in german. And no, I am not a legastenic, just lazy

Hehe. The only good elves are those who are face up pushing dandelions.

I'm not sure what your point is and I think you are overstating things just a bit. If you go back and read how the rule is written it's actually not that bad. Basically we developed a rule that when you take a severe physical damage after you made your Damage Resistance check there is a chance your going to be out of most of the fight and if you think about, realistically, that's probably what should happen.

For us this is isn't like action films where if you get shot in the shoulder you're "O.K... I can still fight." No! You can't! That is one of the worst non-fatal injures you can have. A Serious Physical wound is most likely some heavy bleeding with a possibly broken bone. I would like to meet a person who could shrug that off who didn't have some sort of pain compensation and keep fighting with only penalty. You can still perform Free Actions that don't require a follow-up action like Call a Shot. And remeber you only add previous wound modifiers. So if take a Serious wound straight out of the box then you only have a TN 4.
For instance your character takes a Serious wound to leg. He gets one success on his Will/CT roll. He can drop prone (fall down) and yell for a teammate. You can also use karma pool on said roll.

Does that mean Dragons are more badass? Hell yes it does and they should be. But what is so hard to believe about that? Just look at wild boars. Dragons should be able to shrug off big damage. They’re dragons.

The point of the rule is to make getting shot with a gun or cut with a sword what it should be. A very painful and life-threatening experience.

Nice.

then it all falls down to who has the higher initiative, and oh wait, i've got a spell i can sling at you from a distance as well, so i dont even have to worry about noise


yes i fight dirty,

Well, that should eliminate the stupid melee experts from consideration.

Seriously though, how may fights in Shadowrun take place in open terrain at a distance of 100 meters?

That is most amusing.

Bravo.