[Torg] Trimming player decision-making

[Morgan Nash]

My solution to that sort of thing (in any game, not just Torg) has
usually been to replace rules with "referee creativity". It might not
work where you don't know the players well or where they need the
rules as something of a controlling influence but I would tend to dump
combat options like vital blow and just mentally modify the result
based upon what the player wants to achieve.

eg: "I'm emptying the clip into the gospogs" or "I'll try and
kidney-punch him". Don't go through the number-crunching of working
out full auto + this + that, etc. Just make the dice roll, spend the
possibilities, play the cards and trust the ref to take your
description into account.

It's fast and loose, certainly, but it's usually worked for me.
Dice-rolling, possibility spending and card playing are fun - opening
a book and running through all possible combat options to find that
extra +1 that guarantees success is a bit dull (IMO).

Morgan


On Dec 17, 2007 2:57 PM, Phil Dack <philipdack at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Another quick post, as I'm procrastinating.
>
> My group managed to let combat grind to a halt with their
> contemplation of various tactical options. Its good to hand the
> players some tactical control, but when every round you're
> asking them to decide on what action to take (and the use of
> interaction skills in combat, plus Approved Actions being
> rewarded with a new card complicates this decision), how to take
> it (multiple actions?), what options to take (vital blow etc.),
> to play cards or not (and if so, which cards). Then the question
> of spending a possibility once the roll has happened - it's a
> lot of points each of which could potentially slow things down.
>
> I was contemplating removing ALL combat options. No more
> autofire, no more vital blow. Nothing.
>
> Instead, I was thinking of upping card play. It only cuts out
> one stage admittedly and may simply replace one level of
> contemplation for another of course. But instead of combat
> options, players can play one card from their hand each combat
> round. Trouble is, this changes rather a lot. It messes things
> up at a metagame level, because only PCs have cards. Do NPCs
> still use the old maneuvers? Or do they gain surrogate cards? It
> may also upset, if slightly, the balance of cardpools making
> them less potent in general.
>
> Any other thoughts on how this decision-making process can be
> trimmed. And in particular, I *am* quite keen on getting rid of
> the combat maneuvers which add a level of 'realism' that I don't
> necessarily need for a cinematic game. Now there's a thought -
> allowing them in some realities, but not others! Nile Empire
> pulp judges on the results, Core Earth is more interested in the
> process. Oh dear. That could get very messy.... :)
>
> Phil