Defending against the Orc's Bane

[Ethica]

Trouble is, monsters in UK rules have few Body Points, usually only one, so don't have much defence. Should we use White Shields for all participants Now, there's a thought

Heroes get white shields because they are skilled warriors. They should be able to defeat many adversaries of greater physical strength by their skill alone.

[Tott]

i think heroes get white shields purely for game balance reasons, it just makes it a bit easier for heroes than it does monsters. id argue that chaos warriors are also meant to be highly skilled combatants as well, possibly orcs and fimir too.

[Ethica]

Yeah but if you look at lord of the rings, the heroes in that are killing dozens of Uruk Hai who are also meant to be fearsome warriors, and they don't even get wounded.

[Tott]

yes but they're protected by narrative causality. the books would have been a lot shorter if frodo hadnt even got out of the shire or aragorn hadnt been able to drive off all of the dark riders with a torch. thats also where theres a lack of continuity with those types of stories - aragorn fought off all 9 of the dark riders with a simple sword and flaming torch - gandalf, faced just one of them with all his powers and a magic staff and got his posterior handed to him on a plate.
consider the extra white shield 'narrative causality'

[el_flesh]

There's also our fervent wish that 'good is stronger than evil' - utter bullshit.
The more skilled warrior is 'stronger' than the lesser skilled warrior. This depends alot more on learned and honed skill; not even on intelligence.
Speed is worth loads more than strength. Check your UFC.

[torilen]

to ken - my suggestion is to just use the american version of the monsters. Makes the game more interesting anyhow.

to tott - does this mean that the heroes is HQ don't get the same protection??? hehehehe

And, yes, if we are honest with ourselves...some monsters should use white shields for defense. Realize, though, that
the majority of monsters don't really hon their skills at fighting, as much as they simply throw themselves at an opponent
and flail wildly, and get lucky many times because they don't find themselves facing trained fighters, as the heroes would be.

[cynthialee]

easy fix would be to allow white shields to block for everyone monster or hero and use black shields as botches that pull a white shield if defending or a skull if attacking
messes with the mechanix alot but it does fix some issues with the system

[ken]

easy fix would be to allow white shields to block for everyone monster or hero and use black shields as botches that pull a white shield if defending or a skull if attacking
messes with the mechanix alot but it does fix some issues with the system

You are right of course. That's why my anti-hero, Juan Sheet, gets a misfire with his pistol if he rolls a black shield when firing. Simple

[cynthialee]

what are the mechanix you use for ROF on that pistol?

[ken]

what are the mechanix you use for ROF on that pistol?

Sorry, I don't understand ROF. I will be away for a few days, back next weekend.