NS: PRC 3.1.2 - Thugs
Why
Thugs have utterly failed as a foil or even as a reasonable roadblock for players. So I had to find a way to keep them meaningful to the game. They haven’t been able to hit, much less damage, a PC in a long while. As often as not PCs will take out 5+ thugs at a time. So the challenge is how to make them a threat and to keep a group of them from falling like a house of cards.
There is also a simulationist desire for the PCs to wade through the thugs before taking out the big boss, to do otherwise is an anti-climactic end game where the end boss is taken out and there are some number of thugs wandering around without direction or purpose.
Proposed Solution
To keep thugs alive longer, yet still make them hittable instead of each outcome above the take down number taking down an additional thug it will require a multiple of the group bonus to take down additional thugs in a single attack. To keep them relevant thugs will be able to adopt aggressive and defensive positioning.
Takedown
Under the current rules thugs have a take down number equal to their AV + 5. So a group of thugs with an AV of 7 would have a takedown number of 12. For each point of outcome above the takedown number an additional thug would fall. Under the new rule the takedown number wouldn’t change, however, an additional thug would only be taken out at each multiple of the group bonus.
For example a group of 5 thugs with an AV of 7, have a takedown number of 12 and a group bonus of +3. To take down one thug the character would need an attack check of 12, to take down 2 would require a check of 15, a third would drop on a check of 18, etc. After several exchanges only 3 thugs are left, reducing their group bonus to +2. If a character attacked a second thug would drop on a 14, and a third at 16, etc.
Aggressive
If thugs attack aggressively they may exchange damage for accuracy. An aggressive attack reduces total damage by -2. In exchange for this penalty the thugs may transfer up to their group bonus from damage to attack AV.
For example 5 thugs attack aggressively, they have an AV of +7, a group bonus of +3 and a damage of +7. They shift 3 points of damage to attack resulting in an AV of +10 and a damage of +2. When combined with their group bonus they would have an attack of +13 but a damage of only +2. There is a good chance they would hit, but it is unlikely the hit would be consequential unless they had large weapons.
Defensive
A group of thugs can attach themselves to a named character and take take up a defensive posture. In such a posture the thugs will defend the named character putting themselves in harms way to protect their lord. When in defensive posture thugs get no attacks and their takedown number is equal to the named characters relevant defensive AV (Dodge or Calm usually) + their group bonus. While their are thugs in defensive posture the named character can not be attacked except through he thugs. When the last thug is taken down, if their are sufficient points of outcome that an additional thugs would have been taken out if it was there, then this damage rolls over to the named character. The rollover damage starts after an additional multiple of the group bonus. The named character counts as member of the thug group for the purpose of calculating group bonus.
If there are two thugs defending a named character. If the named character has a Dodge AV of 12, the thugs have a takedown number of 14. If a character attacks with an attack check of 14 they take out one thug, an attack check of 16 takes out the second thug, any outcome above 18 would rollover to the named character. If the attack check was 20, both thugs would fall and the named character would be hit with an outcome of 2, causing +2 to the damage.
Mobs
There is no limit to the number of thugs that can group together. In a purely simulationist point of view no more than 10 or so thugs could surround a character and attack him, but if an army is charging a lone character their really should be that overwhelming, crushing odds of the thugs having a +14 (100 thugs) to hit. The lesson: don’t attack an army unless you can force the army to split their attention (i.e. an army of your own).
Changes
I’ll update with which pages need to be updated in the manuscript shortly.