#ttrpg combat

At the same time, since this is so unusual for TTRPG play, even in TTRPGs where the rules-as-written don’t support plot armor, it’s kind of hard to explain to people. It’s almost like gleeblor trying to talk about something amazing a PC pulled off because of their skills and cleverness and have people NOT roll their eyes and say “whatever, the GM just let it happen.”

When Yvette Preux, armed with two pistols, waited quietly behind the door at the top of he stairs for the eight armed gangsters to come up and then surprised them by shooting six shots through the door, sidestepped so they wouldn’t know where she was when they started shooting back blindly, then fired six more shots, ultimately killing or incapacitating all of them, every step of that was mediated by the rules, and every single one of those gangsters could’ve put her down in a single Action if she had let them. The GM is following the rules, which say what the NPCs can and can’t do just like the PCs. To me that’s what’s special about TTRPGs(if played by the rules) as opposed to freeform RP or writing a novel. A smart plan succeeds because it is actually a smart plan, not because it’s a dumb plan and the author just wants it to succeed. A good author can tell a story where a smart plan succeeds because it’s a smart plan, but a TTRPG goes step by step and has the math to prove it.

there are some things that are still unclear to me about combat though.

one thing that confuses me a little is that the rulebook says that Oneiroi don't have health, only qualia. Does that mean that any physical harm they suffer goes directly to their qualia? Cause, like, I'll go ahead and assume they aren't gonna be invincible to rusty crowbars.

Similarly, but reverse for the nightmares, who also only have qualia. Here, I could imagine that they're supposed to be immune to physical harm. Is that the case? (and my magical girl's rusty crowbar would be useless) or is it kinda … whatever the GM finds funniest?

Thanks so much in advance! We're currently in the process of gathering a group to give the game a try and can't wait to start

Glad you’re enjoying it, and hope y’all have fun.

The intended interpretation is that Oneiroi taking physical or social harm, just hurts their Qualia, same as Nightmares. They essentially only have one resource pool, instead of two. Because the idea is Nightmares and Oneiroi… aren’t truly real. You’re not a human anymore.

But banals, who have health for physical and qualia for social, don’t have Musings.

If there is ANYTHING I have learned from running a game with level 20 characters, it is that balancing encounters at high levels is SO HARD. If your party has the capacity to shake the entire world, it is hard to make things difficult for them. What I discovered to be the way to help with that challenge is an applicable strategy across all levels of play.

1. Focus on number of actions on each side. The side with more actions will usually have an easier time in the fight. So put more enemies in play rather than giving individual ones more hit points and higher damage outputs.

2. Put the pcs into combats you don't know if they will be able to win, they will manage to win despite your expectations. This isn't to say you should make encounters impossible, but go to what you think is balanced and add a couple more things until you honestly don't know if they'll be able to do it.

3. Use strategy on the side of the enemies. Have them make smart decisions and fight to win as much as the PCs are. Watch some videos on ttrpg tactics and have your enemies use it.

1 Penetrative Damage.

Another Eureka quick start video is finally uploaded, this time about “dangerous situations.” In this video I explain what a “dangerous situation” is in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy and how positioning and time are tracked during them.

Okay so as some of you may know we have been very slowly working on some videos for Eureka to help people get playing easier + entertainment. (If not here’s the link)

We are finally at a point where we will soon be recording some gameplay demonstration videos, which will be sorta-contextless scenarios that will seem like they are part of a larger adventure but really aren’t.

One of these scenarios will be “Studio 12” which will showcase some firearm combat gameplay and also feature iconic Eureka character Comtesse Yvette Preux. Since it’s going to be enshrined in video, I’ve spent as much time thinking about what kind of outfit Yvette should be wearing for this as she would, and I thought it would be fun to put it up to a fan vote.

This will be the first of multiple polls on the subject. This will decide the “base” outfit and subsequent polls will decide finer details of the base outfit like accessories and stuff.

None of these are anything she wouldn’t want to end up in an extended shootout in, depending on the circumstances.

“Vampire” Outfit

This is the outfit of her “persona”(which is really just her being herself but people take the whole 800-year-old vampire thing as an elaborate act) for her gaming streams; a long pseudo-medieval dress, usually in black, usually with a cloak and gloves. She wears it because she she likes it but also it really sells the “vampire” schtick.

Biker Suit

A full-body thick leather biker suit usually with accompanying motorcycle helmet when actually on the road. This is what she wears when riding her motorcycle so as not to get run over by other drivers who can’t see her in their rear-view mirrors. (Regular clothes disappear in reflections with her, thicker stuff like the biker suit and helmet do not.)

Skater Outfit

Slightly grungy 90s skateboarder style. This was her first foray into more risqué modern women’s fashion, like showing a little bit of leg, or even wearing pants at all.

Sundress

I don’t really have a whole explanation for this one, you know what it is. It’s also extremely risqué by her standards because it might not even go much past the knee.

Skirt & Sweater or Blouse Combo

This is her go-to modern casualwear. Like with the skater outfit, the sweater helps cover up how bony she really is under there, having died badly of wasting sickness c.1242. (Yvette is on the right in both images, the woman on the left is her friend Venus.)

(all of these were drawn by team artist chaospyromancy)

A review for Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy. A lot of people seem to balk when they hear that Eureka, an investigation-focused game, has combat at all, and I think a lot of that has to do with D&D5e making players think that granular combat has to be a slog. Eureka’s granular combat rules complement the investigation rules because they reward caution, planning, and situational awareness, and are really fast with most instances being over in 1-2 rounds. I’d also say they generally only come up between like 0 and 2 times per mystery.