You turn to face a red bear orc raider.
You gesture at a red bear orc raider.
A sheet of slippery ice forms beneath a red bear orc raider!
A red bear orc raider slips and falls backward, slamming its head on the ice.
Roundtime: 2 sec.
You notice as a chubby bear sniffs the air.
You take up a handful of dirt in your palm to prepare the Thunderclap spell. As you whisper arcane words, you gently blow the dust away and watch as it becomes swirling motes of glittering light that veil your hands in a pale aura.
sweep
A gobbet of drool trickles down the raider's chin.
You sweep a steel two-handed sword with a balanced blade at a red bear orc raider. A red bear orc raider dodges, barely twisting out of harm's reach.
[You're winded, nimbly balanced and overwhelming opponent.]
[Roundtime 7 sec.]


I know the system is made so you miss at random but can you fix this?
You shouldn't miss in this instance.




Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

You're trying to tell me that if I had you knocked down and dazed I'd miss you with a sword? I'm sure the game is set up a certain way but make it a bit more realistic is all I'm asking. There is no way in real life I'd miss someone with a sword that was on the ground and stunned from bashing his head on the ground. If this could be fixed with a simple solution or minor tweaking I'd be much appreciative.




Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

I understand your equation but entitlement has nothing to do with it. Subtract that and you make a very valid point.

Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

>Or the person was still able to be aware enough to block it, sure.

Is this like the assuming the prone position in water isn't laying down?

Perhaps we should pretend dazed and on their back is really a defensive position where someone's cognizant enough (read not really dazed) to block/evade attacks.

>>>> There is no way in real life I'd miss someone with a sword that was on the ground and stunned from bashing his head on the ground.

Grab an axe and trying cutting down an immobilized and effectively unconscious tree. I bet you miss at least once.

>>>> If this could be fixed with a simple solution or minor tweaking I'd be much appreciative.

I doubt this can be easily fixed even if it was desirable to do so (see below).

>>>> Perhaps we should pretend dazed and on their back is really a defensive position where someone's cognizant enough (read not really dazed) to block/evade attacks.

As silly as it sounds when you put it that way, he may be correct. I can envision how problematic it would be if a warrior mage with ice patch* and enough debilitation skill could put an enemy in a position where they are guaranteed to be hit by a weapon no matter what the difference in skill is. This is why being prone, kneeling, immobilized, stunned or unconscious gives a defensive penalty but does not set them to zero. Game balance requires funny compromises like that.

or, as Absolom put it:

>>>> Gameplay + Balance > Realism + Entitlement.


* I am not picking on WM's or IP here. It is just the strongest example. Spells like Petrifying Visions, Mental Blast and Soul Sickness would likely apply equally as well.

<Grab an axe and trying cutting down an immobilized and effectively unconscious tree. I bet you miss at least once.>

You'd lose that bet ;)

<Or the person was still able to be aware enough to block it, sure.>

It wasn't blocked. It was dodged, which is ridiculous. Blocking it I can see, or even a parry.

>>There is no way in real life I'd miss someone with a sword that was on the ground and stunned from bashing his head on the ground.

Why? Everyone makes mistakes.

I can see us computer nerds missing but not a battle tested warmage that has killing things for years.
Would a combat sniper miss at 100 yards? I seriously doubt it.

But you all make good valid points on why it is the way it is and I thank you for giving me a better understanding on why it is that way.

Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

>>Is this like the assuming the prone position in water isn't laying down?

Yes.

>>Perhaps we should pretend dazed and on their back is really a defensive position where someone's cognizant enough (read not really dazed) to block/evade attacks.

No, they're dazed, and on their back. But I'm sure you've watched some kind of movie or another where a guy is still trying to block attacks while stunned, on the ground, missing a limb, half dead, etc.

---

Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.

>>>> I can see us computer nerds missing but not a battle tested warmage that has killing things for years.
>>>>> Would a combat sniper miss at 100 yards? I seriously doubt it.

I'll give you an example. I planted 500 trees on my acreage this year by hand (seriously). I marked each one with a stake so as to avoid "tractor blight" (a lawnmower running over it). To do this I needed to pound in each 3 foot stake with a 5 pound sledgehammer. I am not a small person, even for a computer geek (6'3", 230 pounds and not overweight). For the first 50 or so there was no problem. I hit 100% of the time. Then I got tired. Eventually I started missing. A few times I hit my other hand (that was holding the stake) with the sledgehammer. My hammer is probably a bit lighter (at least half the weight) and a tad more awkward than the broadswords that our characters are swinging, but it is probably a pretty decent analogy.

Second example. Last winter a 2' diameter tree blew over in the wind right over my snow shoe trail. I needed to get it out of the way so I took an axe and cut it into three pieces. For the first 15 minutes or so I was very precise. After that quite a few of my blows started to become less precise. Some would come straight down and failed to hit the 45-60 degree angle needed to chip a piece off, some were too shallow and skipped off the bark. On a few cases I over or under extended and part of the blade didn't hit the tree.

Fatigue does that.

>Dazed doesn't mean defenseless. No condition does. So yeah, it would be a good idea to arrive at an understanding of dazed that doesn't involve being completely unresponsive to your surroundings.

For a good example of this, watch UFC fights. When someone is lying on the ground, then can be quite difficult to hit. I realize this isn't the same as a sword fight, but it might help.

Watch some MMA and watch it closely. You will see guys get dazed and still defend themselves. The guy on top hits a lot but he is blocked by the guy on the bottom covering up and even dodging.

Abison/Rystien

I think the fumble/recovery messaging that is in test is more than enough to let people know what is happening. Making combat messaging be more exact as to how an attack was defended is pointless when 99.9% of it isn't paid any attention.

> There is no simple way to fix this, and I'm not sure what the fix would be. Most critters lack weapons and shields which invalidate those combat message types. This leaves dodging. Adding in another set of messaging to account for a time when the enemy might be stunned/immobilized/web and hit, would be a 2-3 year project for me.

You could always remove the crit failure roll system that no one seems to care for :) Sometimes the best way to fix things is to cut your losses and try something else.