Post originally by MangaBoogieMan at 2004-09-25 22:07:58
Converted from Phorums BB System

I'll agree that the system has some holes. the worst part is how deeply they're integrated into the game itself. The one that bugs me is the one where melee combat rolls integrate attack and damage into a single roll and consider it to be the result of several seconds of moving about and swinging and blocking instead of one attack per roll (to WW's credit, characters do have a pasive defense attribute, allowing them to save their actions for attacks). The real problem is the fact that larger, heavier weapons with higher damage codes tend to hit more often and cause more damage because they hit more often. Sure, it speeds up combat, but it also loads the dice rolls in favor of the guy with the biggest, nastiest weapon.

Let's consider this. To do damage with a weapon, you have to be able to hit with it. And a fire axe isn't easier to hit with than a knife. But the rules as written say exactly that: The bigger the weapon, the easier it is to hit with it, so it does more damage. This is a bigger problem than it is made out to be. In this system, a trained knife fighter stands the same chance of hitting as an untrained adult with no combat experience just because said untrained adult is brandishing a bastard sword. In reality, the knifer is likely to kill his untrained opponent after said opponent swings only once and cannot recover fast enough to defend himself against the knifer's counterattack. But in this system, the advantage goes to whoever uses the biggest weapon. Anyone who has ever swung an axe at anything besides a stationary log or tree will know what I'm talking about. Same with a chainsaw. Sure it does a lot of damage, but the torque, weight, and lack of balance makes it as dangerous to the wielder as the target unless the wielder is well trained and experienced in the saw's use.

At least one game system has taken this approach before. The one I remember is West End's Ghostbusters. When West End wrote Ghostbusters International, the follow-up to Ghostbusters, they dropped this mechanic in favor of one with separate to-hit and damage rolls, with damage codes only applied on damgae rolls, after the to-hit roll succeeded.

There is also an inherent problem in the way time is kept in combat with this mechanic. Those who argue that the system as written uses each roll of the dice to reflect several exchanges are forgetting that in gun combat, each roll represents a single shot. When someone with a gun gets into close combat, then what do you do? In the time that a single melee roll occurs, the gunman could get off several shots, with a good possibility of scoring a fatal injury with any one of these shots. A gunshot can be lined up and squeezed off in three seconds or less if the weapon is drawn and ready. In a series of exchanges, the gunman could get off as many shots as there are exchanges, and should be able to. But since the gunman can only fire one shot per roll, he has a problem. In the end, it makes more sense to track combat by each die roll representing individual exchanges rather than each roll representing multiple exchanges. Each weapon should also have separate to-hit and damage modifiers, with to-it modifiers representing how easy or hard it is to hit with the weapon rather than its damage potential.

And I agree, Nawara, the system doesn't seem to give enough points to make up competent characters, even if the characters in question are inexperienced.

This is what I think. My quotes aren't terrible specific due to the fact that some of this information was read years ago. But my opinion still stands. YMMV, of course.