Combat and Damage

I dreaded writing this section.

Fighting is inevitable. Everyone has been in heated situations and sometimes those heated situations escalate to violence. But Goth: The Corruption is not particularly about kicking ass and taking names. The character's main conflict is with keeping the mundanes from taking over. Still, I do concede that there will be a player that wants a gunfight as well as the occasional entertaining adventure fighting monsters and mad scientists.

The aim of combat is obviously to kill or incapacitate your adversary. To do that you use whatever is nearby or your character's personal attacks (Kick, Punch, Grapple, Bite, Dodge, Block, Martial Arts). In combat, whoever has the highest Dexterity goes first and it proceeds down to the lowest Dexterity.

A Punch does 1D3 points of damage, plus the damage bonus if your character has one.

A Kick does 1D6 points of damage, plus the damage bonus if your character has one.

A Bite does 1D3 points of damage, plus HALF the character's damage bonus.

Grapples are special. First, they can be used to restrain or disarm someone, though every round you have to roll under your strength on 3D6 or lose the grip. Second, they can cause damage, though the character has to specify between hold and chokehold. A hold causes 1D6 non-lethal damage, a chokehold causes 1D6 lethal damage.

So, if a kick does more damage than a punch, why use a punch at all? Depends on the situation and the Ubergoth, really. If you are pressed right next to your opponent or in a chokehold you don't have the leverage for a kick or a punch, but you can bite their arm. Perhaps you are submerged waist-deep in water and can't throw an effective kick. Mainly it comes down to what the Ubergoth decides is appropriate for the situation.

Dodges

Most people, if given the opportunity, would rather avoid that left hook to the jaw. When a character declares that she is hitting someone, the person being hit can say "Dodge." She then rolls her dodge skill and if she succeeds she completely avoids the attack. If she fails the attack proceeds as normal. The catch, though, is that if a character tries a dodge she misses her next turn EVEN IF SHE FAILED. This represents her being off balance and in a poor position to react. She may dodge again the next turn. The penalties are not cumulative.

Block

Unlike a dodge, this move is not an attempt to avoid the attack, but it is an attempt to put a less vulnerable target to the attack. Putting a forearm out to block a punch, holding a board up to block a lead pipe, etc. Again, the choice of what can block what is up to the Ubergoth. Gunshots cannot be blocked.

The block has one major advantage over the dodge in that a character who blocks does not miss their next turn. To block, a character declares what she is blocking with (arm, leg, lunchbox) If the block is successful the character rolls the damage as in a regular attack. But the damage is subtracted from the damage the attacker does. If the blocker does more damage than the attacker does, ignore the excess. If the attacker does more damage than the blocker, the remainder is carried over in regular hit point damage.

Maybe that was a little much to digest. Let's get back to Rose. In one of her karate classes, she is forced to free-spar Michael.

Michael's Punch is at 40. On his first attack he rolls a 12, a clean hit. Rose declares a block with her arm, her Block at 45. She rolls a 41. Michael's strength is 10 and Rose is at 9 so neither gets a damage bonus. Their damage is 1D3 each. Michael rolls a 1 and Rose rolls a 3. Rose completely avoids taking damage, but since she was on the defensive Michael takes no damage.

Later on in the match, the Ubergoth decides that Michael will go all out with a roundhouse kick to the temple. Rose wants to attempt to block with a kick but the Ubergoth rules that the kick is coming too high too fast for her to get her leg up in time so Rose decides on a forearm block. Michael's Kick is at 67 and he rolls 05. Rose rolls 13 on her Block skill. Damage time. A kick is worth 1D6 points of damage and Michael rolls a 4. Rose's forearm is still 1D3 damage. She only rolls a 2, leaving the remaining 2 points of damage to slip through her defenses and take off her hit points.

Note that it is impossible to kill someone using body attacks (Yes, I'm aware of the Dim Mak and the Nose into Brain Strike and even the Throat Crusher. It's a game, get over it.) If a character reaches zero hit points through hand to hand combat she is considered in a coma that she doesn't awaken from until she is at least at 3 hit points.

Martial Arts

Martial Arts is a catch-all skill category that includes everything from Boxing and Karate to more obscure arts like Muay Thai and Capoeria.

Anyone short of an armless man can throw a punch; just ball your fist and aim for the bad guy. But the Martial Arts skill implies that the character has had some training in the methods of fighting and can use his body more effectively as a weapon.

In combat terms, if a character successfully hits someone, she rolls her Martial Arts skill. If it succeeds the character doubles the damage. Martial Arts does not double the damage bonus. Martial Arts can be used in a Block. Grapple is not effected, nor are ANY weapons. If the Ubergoth knows anything about the martial arts he should use it. A boxer cannot use Martial Arts on a kick and a Capoeria stylist cannot use it to punch, etc.

Melee Weapons (woo hoo!)

Beer bottles, knives, pool cues, lunchboxes, lead pipes, etc. Anything that can be used at close range. There is very little difference between weapons and body attacks except for the fact that weapons are almost always lethal. In addition, sometimes the nature of the weapon can be an advantage. Since a pool cue is longer than the reach of a punch the person wielding the pool cue goes first even if his Dexterity is lower. Although a pool cue is awfully long, and so initiative is lost in the following round; the character with the cue has to go second. Shucks. Finally, only some weapons can be dodged. If anyone is stupid enough to try to block a knife or a lead pipe with a forearm you deserve taking a fistful of pain.

Guns

If you are using guns in a Goth: The Corruption game, stop and seriously consider how you're running the game. I have the pleasure of knowing a lot of Goths in my time and NONE ever got into a gunfight. Of course, none of them ever pissed off members of the Sunset District Crips.

Here's the deal with guns. It's still Dexterity order and dodges still count. Only keep track of everyone's ammo and there is no blocking. I don't care what you saw on Wonder Woman. There should be some modifiers based on the situation. It's easier to hit someone in broad daylight than on a foggy night.

The characters, if they're feeling particularly Chow Yun Fat, can hold a gun in each hand and fire two at once. The rule with this is that if they try this the Ubergoth knocks off five points from the Gun skill for every point of Dexterity under 18 on the off hand. NOTE: Because you have to be insane to use guns in Goth: The Corruption there is no Gun skill. You must buy it with freebie points. Ha! And you do not automatically receive points in Gun to start. Any other Skills the player/Ubergoth wants to add can be treated in this way as well. Bear in mind that most people won't fight to the death unless absolutely cornered. Fighting is not the focus in Goth: The Corruption, but I include it because fighting IS a part of role-playing in general.

That is it for combat. Now let's get back to Rose.

One night after her karate class she is cornered in an alley by one of the jocks she evaded a few months earlier (let's call him Buck.) Buck has been drinking and is in a rather hostile mood. Rose looks around, sees that there is no escape, and so she needs to defend herself.

Buck's Dexterity is 14 and Rose is at 9 so Buck gets the first attack. He decides to slap her hard. The Ubergoth declares that a punch and rolls Buck's punch skill. He succeeds.

Rose attempts to block it with her arm. She rolls her Block and pulls it off.

Buck's strength is 16, so he gets a 1D4 damage bonus. He rolls a 1 on the 1D3 damage for punch and a 3 on his damage bonus roll.

Rose rolls her Martial Arts to see if her training helps any. She makes the roll, doubling her block dice roll to 2D3. She rolls a 2 and a 1. 1 damage point of Buck's attack gets through to her, knocking her down from 11 hit points to 10.

It's now Rose's attack. She attempts a side kick to the stomach. She rolls her Kick skill and succeeds. Buck tries a Block but misses the roll. That means that Rose gets all her damage through! She rolls her Martial Arts skill and succeeds. That means her kick does 2D6 damage. She rolls a 4 and a 2.

Buck has taken 6 points of damage. Since his hit points are only at 10 he risks falling unconscious unless he rolls under his Strength on 3D6. He rolls an 11 safely below his Strength of 16. Buck, extremely pissed at getting the wind knocked out of him by a little freak-bitch, picks up a lead pipe off the ground. The lead pipe does 1D6 lethal damage and Buck's Club skill is at 60, due to the hours spent playing baseball.

It's a new round. Buck takes a swing at Rose's head, pulling off his Club roll. The Ubergoth tells Rose that she cannot block a lead pipe, so she attempts a Dodge roll. She succeeds and the pipe misses her. However, because she dodged she has to miss her turn.

Next round Buck tries again to hit her with the pipe. He pulls off the roll and smacks her hard on her side. He rolls the pipe's damage and gets a full 6. Since Rose's hit points were at 10 and the 6 is more than half, she has to roll under her Strength of 9 or get knocked out. She rolls a 5. She staggers back, clutching her ribs and crying softly as Buck laughs a drunken, cruel laugh.

Since she didn't dodge Rose gets a counterattack. Looking around the ground she finds her metal lunchbox. She picks it up and tries to smash Buck in the chin. Buck declares a dodge but he rolls a 98. He still loses his next turn, even though he failed the dodge.

Rose hits Buck square in the face (she's had lots of practice with the lunchbox.) The damage with a metal lunchbox is 1D4+1 and she rolls a 2. Adding 1 to the score, Buck has taken 3 points of damage. He has again taken half of his hit points in damage. This time on his strength roll he rolls 18 and passes out at Rose's feet.

Rose attempts a First Aid roll on herself for the pipe wound and succeeds, wrapping her cold soda can in the sleeve of her jacket and pressing it on the wound. She regains 1D3 hit points and she rolls a three. Her hit points up to 7, she staggers slowly out of the alley.

A note on killing: This isn't a game where the character's lives are constantly in danger. If a character kills someone without justification, she should lose Goth points permanently, to reflect the traumatic effect in her mind.

Other Damage

There are a hell of a lot of other ways for your characters to get hurt. Here are the less pleasant ones.

Drowning

For every round a character is submerged underwater and can't get out she makes a Swim roll. If she succeeds there is no effect. If she fails she is starting to drown. She has to roll under her Strength on 2D6 or she takes 1D6 points of damage. The next round she is drowning she has to beat her Strength on 3D6 or she takes another 1D6. The round after that she has to beat her Strength on 4D6 and so on, until she is either rescued or dead.

Fire/Sunlight

Depends on the size of the flame or the amount of exposure.

Small flame, small exposure (a hand): 1D3

Medium flame, average exposure (an arm): 1D4

Large exposure, heavy exposure (all her clothes on fire): 1D6+3

Conflagration, Nude on a beach in Hawaii at noon...seriously: 1D10+2

Falls

1D6 for every ten feet fallen.

Super Soakers—a healthy alternate to massacre

Despite popular belief, Perkigoths love Super Soakers. If you get them started, they will tell you why the CPS series is the best, the downfalls of the CPS 3000 and the benefits of the CPS 2000 over the 2500. Trust me. On two occasions I participated in Perkigoth Super Soaker wars, and have been witness to many more at parties, picnics and any other large gathering. For those of you gaming who can’t keep your testosterone in your pants, this is a healthy alternative to just adding gratuitous violence to your game. Keep in mind that these battles will actually take place—this isn’t just some role-playing thing, where you roll dice to determine whether or not your shot hits. You will get wet. Very wet. Very, very wet. These weapons, are of course copyright Larami, and I, in no way, intend to infringe upon that. I use these merely as suggestions, because they’re the best, and only high-power commercial water cannons. ;) Let the soaking begin.

NOTE: The Ubergoth may or may not want to participate in these battles. She may, instead, create a rule that if a player gets the Ubergoth wet, they receive the equivalent to a double zero. The Ubergoth is then required to make your life hell, and by hitting her, you actually hit a respected eldergoth who has a short temper and much status, automatically lowering your Goth Points innumerably, and creating an enemy out of what would otherwise be a powerful ally—or some equally evil plot. Don’t fuck with the Ubergoth on this one. You’ll regret it. If she doesn’t want to be wet, you have plenty of moving, more willing targets, the Ubergoth already has enough to do to calculate Goth Points gained and lost during combat.

Choosing your weapon

The devices and their characteristics.

The First Wave

The first wave of Super Soakers are good only in short range combat. Nowadays, they’re used primarily as back-up weapons in between loading the big guns. One note about these puppies—they’re very fragile, and they break really easily. Don’t drop them too hard, pump them too much or fuck up the threads on the tanks or you’re screwed. These range in power from 25’s (I believe) at the low end to 150’s (again I believe) on the high end.

The MDS Series

MDS stands for Multi-Directional System. Their big gimmick is the fact that the nozzle can move around. They’re no more powerful than the First Wave, and sometimes less. The smaller 25’s are virtually pointless, whereas the 100’s are a bit better, but still the series is highly overrated.

The XP Series

XP stands for Extra Power, and these things are surprisingly powerful. The XP100, for example, can let loose a virtually steady stream of water until the tank is completely emptied, by pumping while you shoot—loosing no force like you would with the larger CPS’s. The XP70’s are remarkably versatile pistols that pack more squirt than your average squirt gun, and have a range of about 15ft. XP’s are great for small weapons arsenals.

The CPS Series—the heavy artillery

This is where we put the Soak into Super Soaker. CPS stands for Constant Pressure System, and, while I don’t find the system any different from the previous series’, CPS’s have a helluva lot more power. On the low end, the CPS1000 fires 5 times more water per second than the average XP, the 2500 fires 20 times the amount of an XP. The CPS3000 comes with a backpack, because—the one flaw to the CPS series—they unload damn quickly. The 2000, for instance, is gone in little less than 3 shots, albeit long shots—20 feet for about 5 seconds if you hold it. These are what you use to wash your car.

Plotting the Battle Plan

Super Soaker wars can take place in virtually any environment, although snow would not be particularly pleasant. (But who knows, you can incorporate a snowball fight—I just don’t think frostbite is a particularly advantageous condition for your daily, non-game life. These are only suggestions, feel free to create your own.

The Ballroom Blitz—Party Takeover

Party takeovers can only take place in willing environments, or at least semi-willing. Fights in dorm hallways are possibilities, assuming someone eventually helps clean up. ALWAYS keep a safe room. Remember that this was initially a party, and some of the partygoers may not necessarily want to get wet. If need be, you may have to take it outside. If there are any computer or other electronic components in the room(s) where the battle is or will be taking place, cover them! Either that, or make that room a safe room. NOTHING SHOULD BE DAMAGED. That would be reason for the Ubergoth to refrain from ever, ever, ever having a Super Soaker battle in her game again, and you, the player, would be missing out on a lot, not to mention a massive decline in your Goth Points (both real and in the context of the game).

Public Terrorism—Picnic War

The best place for picnic wars to take place are public parks, especially if you have a large group participating in the battle. It tends to gather a crowd of normals, and they can become potential targets. Also, if the park is en route to a sight-seeing-type tourist thing, where tour busses frequently pass, the tour busses can become targets, much to the surprise and amusement of the passengers. We have pictures online from the recent SFgoth listie Gothnik ’98, in which one such picnic war took place. Again, there must be a safe place, generally where the food is should be considered safe, and nothing should be fired in that direction (without a deduction of Goth Points—EXCEPT if it goes unnoticed, in which case positive Goth Points may be gained).

Public Terrorism Part Deux—Naval Battle

This recently occurred on July 4^th at another SFgoth listie event. We rented boats to use on Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, took them to the opposite side of the lake, and fired bloody hell at each other. Some notes for successful naval battles: Try meeting at an alternate location first—a whole bunch of freaks with guns meeting in one place may scare the locals. Be courteous, remember, they don’t have to let the boats out to you. Teams are nice, but not necessary. It’s much more difficult, however, if you take a boat all to yourself. On Stow Lake, they rented out paddleboats and/or motor boats. Either way, it was ideal to have at least 2 other people in the boat, for defensive as well as offensive purposes. Civilian boats (non-gamer/non-gothic boaters) should not be harmed at all. You don’t want them to complain to the management. Gamers who want a boat, but don’t want to partake of the festivities beware; it is still open season on you. You best be armed, is all I can say. Those on the shore are considered safe merely because it’s generally a waste of ammunition to attempt to hit them. If something unforeseen happens, such as a pirate-like raid on another boat resulting in stolen weapons, etc., Goth Points should be awarded to the victors, and all stolen items should be returned to the owner after the battle has subsided. After the naval battle, a place of congregation is encouraged, because there will be a lot of wet, smelly (from the lake/pond/creek/etc. water) people in black who will want to change into dry clothes and/or take a shower. The player who volunteers his abode should be awarded the "Thank You For Not Being an Asshole" Award, explained in Experience Point Award section.

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