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Monday, November 25, 2024

Melee Academy: Three ways to dispose of worthy foes in DF Felltower

I just felt like writing this right now. It overlaps some other posts I've written, which I'll back-link to when I have a bit of time to pull them up.

A few of my players are very fond of "hit them in the hit points;" in other words, torso attacks. -0 to hit, no "wasted" damage, and pushing foes to -5 x HP is a certain way to get rid of them in the end. Nothing fancy, but it works.

It is a bit slow, though, and can turn mook aka fodder fights into slogs as you try to deal 6 x HP in injury x the number of foes. For a mere dozen foes with 12 HP each that's 840 injury . . . even at 3-4d + 10 that'll take a bit of time and usually multiple hits per target.

Add in worthy foes with higher HP and higher DR - say HP 18-20 and DR 4-6, and you're talking about an afternoon's gaming to defeat a bunch of foes.

How to deal with them more quickly? How to put them hors de combat efficiently? Or just how to render them ineffective as opponents?

Here are three ways to put foes in a bad way, quickly.

Sweep the leg! Limb shots are pretty good - legs, especially. They're only -2 to hit, and it takes only injury exceeding HP/2 to cripple the leg.

Where players tend to flub this one is both wanting a "cheap kill" by taking someone down with a leg shot, but also wanting an actual kill kill. In other words, crippling a leg can make a fighter much less effectiveness, but not totally ineffective in a fight. So it might just lower the target's defenses because they're prone or sitting, and limit their tactical movement, but not take them out entirely. It's a mobility kill, but not a kill.

For some foes, it's enough - they'll stay down if they lose a leg. For others, they'll do their best black knight impression and try to do you for that. And if you're going to murder them anyway, and they have reason to believe it (like, you do it to their friends earlier in the fight), what are the odds they'll just give up?

If your head comes away from your neck, it's over. Fatal shots do pretty well, obviously. Neck (-5) and Skull (-7) are excellent ways to drop a foe in a shot or two. Even if they don't take the guy out instantly, they can deal so much damage the foe will be making steady, penalized consciousness checks to keep fighting. Actually, Vitals (-3) attacks with high-damage impaling melee weapons are pretty uncommon in my experience. Guys doing 4d+10 don't like doing 2d+8, even if what gets through armor triples. But it's a good way to inflict a major wound on a foe with a penalty of -5 . . . and missing by 5 knocks you out. Even a moderate-to-high-HT foe is making a tough roll, here. The tougher targets means less Deceptive Attack to inflict on your foes, but if you get through, you have a better chance to end their ability to affect the fight.

If you love someone, better set them on fire. It only takes 2d fire damage to potentially set someone completely on fire - 10+ damage. You have a 50% chance of it with 3d. 4d is much more reliable, and will do it around 90% of the time. The foe will be fully engulfed in flame, which should keep them busy. It does have a tendency to ruin loot - if you're depending on selling their armor, clothes, and wooden weapons this is a bad idea. But it can reduce even an armored foe to uselessness as they try to put out the flames. 3+ damage will set something on fire, but 10+ is what you want - -3 to DX rolls and 1d-1 per second in damage. That'll add up quickly.



These are not the only ways to deal with foes, but all three have something in common - they make the foe much less able to affect the fight around them if not take them out entirely. They're worth considering when you want to win quickly.

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