Battle Royale: Round Two
This will be my last round of combat for today. It's hard to do combat with 16 characters, even if it's just simple combat!
"You know what we need?" Sergeant Nemec said, watching a replay of the fighting on tape.
"What?" Corporal Hawley said.
"An old-style Western ballroom," Nemec said. "When I was a little girl and a barroom brawl came on TV? I loved that shit. This would be a great fight in a Western ballroom."
"Yeah," Hawley said, "but you'd go through a lot of wood and glass."
"Right," Nemec said. "I can still dream."
Note: An error was made in Round One, where we incorrectly used STR as Karen's opposing value against Fran. Her opposing value should have been a value of BODY = 8. We restore one RAP back to Karen.
Round Two:
Two people are already out: Quinn and Jodie. Everyone else rolls a D10 and adds it to their Initiative score. Stacy gets a crap roll (3), so Julia gets to go first.
Julia skips another attempt at a multiple attack. She also skips a chance of revenge against Tom.
"Gotta take the leader out," Julia said. "That means Sandi."
Sandi really wishes she had her PFT batons now, or could use Martial Arts. "This sucks," she thinks.
Julia DEX = 15, Sandi DEX = 5.
Roll: 2 + 8 = 10. No column shifts, but a hit.
Julia STR = 5, Sandi BODY = 4. Sandi takes 2 RAPS.
(Note: I have been colloquially saying a "Character's BODY drops down to X", which isn't quite true. Sandi's BODY will always be = 4 when it comes to calcuating a RV. However, she can only take 4 RAPs of physical damage. Therefore, her Body is 4 but her effective health is 4 - 2 = 2.)
Julia is impressed. "Even if she can't use martial arts, she thinks on her feet.
Stacy is next. Seeing Sandi is hurt, she figures she'll finish the job.
"Oh shit," Sandi thinks.
Stacy DEX = 15, Sandi DEX = 5.
Roll: 9 + 2 = 11. A hit, and one column shift.
Stacy STR = 5, Sandi BODY = 4.
This time, Sandi takes 3 RAPs of damage, falls to -1, and is counted out by Nemec.
"How the hell am I supposed to beat both of you?" she mutters, as she walks out. If we fight again, I'll have the batons.
Charles is next. "Let's check out what Karen can do."
Karen mutters. "Dodging is SHIT." She doesn't care how fast he is, she's mad and stubborn. She wants to DO something.
Charles DEX = 12, Karen DEX = 6.
Roll: 6 + 2 = 8. A hit, but no column shifts.
Charles STR = 3, Karen BODY = 8.
No effect. Karen tumbles away from the blow and lands in the corner, on her feet. "No tapbacks, Red!"
Daria is next. "Look for next weakest person. Which is...uh...Trent."
Trent looks at Daria. "C'mon, Daria. You're really going to hit me?"
"Let's find out," Daria mutters.
Daria DEX = 3, Trent DEX = 4.
Roll: 8 + 6 = 14. Daria only gets one column shift as Trent has a slightly higher categorial DEX.
Daria STR = 2, Trent BODY = 5.
It stings. "Ow, Daria, that hurts. Stop doing that." Daria is disappointed.
Jamie is feeling bold after hitting Fran. "Yo, Mack Daddy!" he shouts. "How about a one-on-one?"
"Oh, now you're going to get it," Mack grumbles.
Jamie DEX = 5, Mack DEX = 7.
Roll: 4 + 6 = 10.
Jamie swings and misses. "Zacks are faster than you are," Mack says.
"Oooo, I want in on this. DOG PILE ON MACK!" Jane cries.
"What the - ?"
Jane DEX = 6, Mack DEX = 7.
Roll: 9 + 5 = 14. Jane gets one column shift.
Jane STR = 3, Mack BODY = 6. Jane does 1 RAP of damage.
Jane bowls Mack over with a leap and he hits the ground hard. Not enough to knock him out, just enough to annoy him.
"Which of you two assholes am I gonna hit?" Mack says. "Eenie, meenie, miney - !"
It's Jamie that gets "MO'd."
Mack DEX = 7, Jamie DEX = 5.
Roll: 9 + 5 = 14. Two column shifts.
Mack STR = 3, Jamie BODY = 4. Normally this would be an "A" result for "All", but Jamie has slightly better body (special rules for being in "same category") so we take off a point. Mack does 2 RAPs of Damage.
"Offense runs its mouth, defense wins championships!" Mack says, literally kicking Jamie in the ass.
Fran remembers that Jamie hurt her last round, and plans to take him out. She thinks about a CHARGING attack where she basically lands on top of him, but the problem is that those attacks can do damage to the attacker, and she's very winded.
So she will use a conventional attack. "Think fast!"
Fran DEX = 10, Jamie DEX = 5.
Roll: 8 + 7 = 15. Three column shifts.
Fran STR = 3, Jamie BODY = 4. Fran gives 3 RAPs of damage.
When Jamie rights himself from Mack's kick, Fran flattens him. Jamie argues with the referee, but Nemec's decision is final.
"And now," Karen thinks, "The Revenge of Karen Disher!" She goes after Fran for hitting her when she was hurt.
Karen DEX = 6, Fran DEX = 10.
Roll: 3 + 1 = 4.
She grabs at Fran, who just ducks down. "Sometimes," Fran thinks, "it's good to be short."
Tiffany heard Jane's "DOG PILE" comment and so she goes after Mack.
Tiffany DEX = 6, Mack DEX = 7.
Roll: 7 + 6 = 13. The minimum she needed to hit and she gets the column shift that comes with it.
Tiffany STR = 2, Mack BODY = 6.
Even with the column shift, it's not enough to hurt Mack. But he swears when he gets hit.
Tom is up. "Okay," he thinks. "Let's forget hitting Julia."
He sees Daria. "Up for a challenge?" he asks.
"You wish," Daria answers.
Tom DEX = 3, Daria DEX = 3.
Roll 7 + 5 = 12. Hit and a column shift.
Tom STR = 2, Daria BODY = 2.
Result is "A". Tom clocks Daria, who takes 2 RAP of damage and is removed from the fight. "Hope Jane didn't see that," he thinks.
Brittany has an idea. "Trent!"
"Wha?"
"Let's kick Tom's ass!"
They smile.
Tom's OV will now be dropped one column shift during Brittany's AND Trent's attack, since he has to fight two opponents.
Brittany DEX = 7, Tom DEX = 3. Normally, Brittany needs a 7 or better to hit, but a 5 (-1 column) will do just fine.
Roll: 8 + 8 = 16. AND DOUBLES. Roll again.
Roll: 9 + 10 = 19. Total Roll: 35!!
Eight freaking column shifts!
Brittany STR = 3, Tom BODY = 2. That's 10 RAPs of damange. If this were a real fight, Tom would probably be dead.
Instead, he just gets his bell rung. It's a good thing that he has threshold invulnerability and heals quickly. That would have been a killing blow if Brittany wasn't an expert fighter.
Tom is hauled off, moaning. Trent smiles, and Brittany gives a thumbs-up sign!
"You know what we need?" Sergeant Nemec said, watching a replay of the fighting on tape.
"What?" Corporal Hawley said.
"An old-style Western ballroom," Nemec said. "When I was a little girl and a barroom brawl came on TV? I loved that shit. This would be a great fight in a Western ballroom."
"Yeah," Hawley said, "but you'd go through a lot of wood and glass."
"Right," Nemec said. "I can still dream."
Note: An error was made in Round One, where we incorrectly used STR as Karen's opposing value against Fran. Her opposing value should have been a value of BODY = 8. We restore one RAP back to Karen.
Round Two:
Two people are already out: Quinn and Jodie. Everyone else rolls a D10 and adds it to their Initiative score. Stacy gets a crap roll (3), so Julia gets to go first.
Julia skips another attempt at a multiple attack. She also skips a chance of revenge against Tom.
"Gotta take the leader out," Julia said. "That means Sandi."
Sandi really wishes she had her PFT batons now, or could use Martial Arts. "This sucks," she thinks.
Julia DEX = 15, Sandi DEX = 5.
Roll: 2 + 8 = 10. No column shifts, but a hit.
Julia STR = 5, Sandi BODY = 4. Sandi takes 2 RAPS.
(Note: I have been colloquially saying a "Character's BODY drops down to X", which isn't quite true. Sandi's BODY will always be = 4 when it comes to calcuating a RV. However, she can only take 4 RAPs of physical damage. Therefore, her Body is 4 but her effective health is 4 - 2 = 2.)
Julia is impressed. "Even if she can't use martial arts, she thinks on her feet.
Stacy is next. Seeing Sandi is hurt, she figures she'll finish the job.
"Oh shit," Sandi thinks.
Stacy DEX = 15, Sandi DEX = 5.
Roll: 9 + 2 = 11. A hit, and one column shift.
Stacy STR = 5, Sandi BODY = 4.
This time, Sandi takes 3 RAPs of damage, falls to -1, and is counted out by Nemec.
"How the hell am I supposed to beat both of you?" she mutters, as she walks out. If we fight again, I'll have the batons.
Charles is next. "Let's check out what Karen can do."
Karen mutters. "Dodging is SHIT." She doesn't care how fast he is, she's mad and stubborn. She wants to DO something.
Charles DEX = 12, Karen DEX = 6.
Roll: 6 + 2 = 8. A hit, but no column shifts.
Charles STR = 3, Karen BODY = 8.
No effect. Karen tumbles away from the blow and lands in the corner, on her feet. "No tapbacks, Red!"
Daria is next. "Look for next weakest person. Which is...uh...Trent."
Trent looks at Daria. "C'mon, Daria. You're really going to hit me?"
"Let's find out," Daria mutters.
Daria DEX = 3, Trent DEX = 4.
Roll: 8 + 6 = 14. Daria only gets one column shift as Trent has a slightly higher categorial DEX.
Daria STR = 2, Trent BODY = 5.
It stings. "Ow, Daria, that hurts. Stop doing that." Daria is disappointed.
Jamie is feeling bold after hitting Fran. "Yo, Mack Daddy!" he shouts. "How about a one-on-one?"
"Oh, now you're going to get it," Mack grumbles.
Jamie DEX = 5, Mack DEX = 7.
Roll: 4 + 6 = 10.
Jamie swings and misses. "Zacks are faster than you are," Mack says.
"Oooo, I want in on this. DOG PILE ON MACK!" Jane cries.
"What the - ?"
Jane DEX = 6, Mack DEX = 7.
Roll: 9 + 5 = 14. Jane gets one column shift.
Jane STR = 3, Mack BODY = 6. Jane does 1 RAP of damage.
Jane bowls Mack over with a leap and he hits the ground hard. Not enough to knock him out, just enough to annoy him.
"Which of you two assholes am I gonna hit?" Mack says. "Eenie, meenie, miney - !"
It's Jamie that gets "MO'd."
Mack DEX = 7, Jamie DEX = 5.
Roll: 9 + 5 = 14. Two column shifts.
Mack STR = 3, Jamie BODY = 4. Normally this would be an "A" result for "All", but Jamie has slightly better body (special rules for being in "same category") so we take off a point. Mack does 2 RAPs of Damage.
"Offense runs its mouth, defense wins championships!" Mack says, literally kicking Jamie in the ass.
Fran remembers that Jamie hurt her last round, and plans to take him out. She thinks about a CHARGING attack where she basically lands on top of him, but the problem is that those attacks can do damage to the attacker, and she's very winded.
So she will use a conventional attack. "Think fast!"
Fran DEX = 10, Jamie DEX = 5.
Roll: 8 + 7 = 15. Three column shifts.
Fran STR = 3, Jamie BODY = 4. Fran gives 3 RAPs of damage.
When Jamie rights himself from Mack's kick, Fran flattens him. Jamie argues with the referee, but Nemec's decision is final.
"And now," Karen thinks, "The Revenge of Karen Disher!" She goes after Fran for hitting her when she was hurt.
Karen DEX = 6, Fran DEX = 10.
Roll: 3 + 1 = 4.
She grabs at Fran, who just ducks down. "Sometimes," Fran thinks, "it's good to be short."
Tiffany heard Jane's "DOG PILE" comment and so she goes after Mack.
Tiffany DEX = 6, Mack DEX = 7.
Roll: 7 + 6 = 13. The minimum she needed to hit and she gets the column shift that comes with it.
Tiffany STR = 2, Mack BODY = 6.
Even with the column shift, it's not enough to hurt Mack. But he swears when he gets hit.
Tom is up. "Okay," he thinks. "Let's forget hitting Julia."
He sees Daria. "Up for a challenge?" he asks.
"You wish," Daria answers.
Tom DEX = 3, Daria DEX = 3.
Roll 7 + 5 = 12. Hit and a column shift.
Tom STR = 2, Daria BODY = 2.
Result is "A". Tom clocks Daria, who takes 2 RAP of damage and is removed from the fight. "Hope Jane didn't see that," he thinks.
Brittany has an idea. "Trent!"
"Wha?"
"Let's kick Tom's ass!"
They smile.
Tom's OV will now be dropped one column shift during Brittany's AND Trent's attack, since he has to fight two opponents.
Brittany DEX = 7, Tom DEX = 3. Normally, Brittany needs a 7 or better to hit, but a 5 (-1 column) will do just fine.
Roll: 8 + 8 = 16. AND DOUBLES. Roll again.
Roll: 9 + 10 = 19. Total Roll: 35!!
Eight freaking column shifts!
Brittany STR = 3, Tom BODY = 2. That's 10 RAPs of damange. If this were a real fight, Tom would probably be dead.
Instead, he just gets his bell rung. It's a good thing that he has threshold invulnerability and heals quickly. That would have been a killing blow if Brittany wasn't an expert fighter.
Tom is hauled off, moaning. Trent smiles, and Brittany gives a thumbs-up sign!
If this is being filmed, the Legionnaires could make a killing with the Academy cadets by showing it like a special film at theme parks, (Captain ED or Terminator 3-D) for favors or such.
ReplyDelete"An old-style Western ballroom," Nemec said. "When I was a little girl and a barroom brawl came on TV? I loved that shit. This would be a great fight in a Western ballroom."
ReplyDelete"Yeah," Hawley said, "but you'd go through a lot of wood and glass."
You know, the Legionnaires do have a holo-chamber down in the basement - the Academy cadets and the government built it for them, along with a couple of VR-suites for training. They could have a good old barroom brawl, if she wanted them to. ("No, Stacy. You can not dress up like Lili Von Shtupp.'
'When you want to dogpile - better be the biggest dog. ' :-)
ReplyDeleteOkay, who is this imposter and where is the real Karen Disher? I mean, seriously, all she does is get her ass handed to her on a silver platter, wrapped in a red ribbon and bow!
ReplyDeleteOf course, that may be because James decided to only count Karen's physical attributes and disregard her mental ones for some reason. I mean, hello? She's got experience in street fights, she's got the native cunning AND she's got a willingness to fight dirty when the situation warrants it, so why aren't we seeing her street smarts used more in this brawl? As far as I can recall, the rules are no powers, no martial arts, and no weapons—everything else goes.
They'll start calling her "Candy Ass Karen". But she did spend her first round dodging against two high DEC characters and then had a crap roll in the second round. She's still hanging around. :D
DeleteHow about 'Candy Disher', because of her 'lollipop left' and her 'Raisinette right'? (People love making up names like that, and now with Trump in office...) Of course, knowing Karen, that's when she knees someone in the groin as she says 'You forgot about my Pop Rocks', - stops a pair of thrown fists as she says '-these are my Life Savers'...
Delete... and then does a lightning-fast reverse roundhouse kick that smashes both remaining guys in the face. They drop to the floor as she says 'Those are my 'Jawbreakers'.
Calling her names will end very quickly, I think. Only Tiffany has more of a hair-trigger among the Legionnaires...
Then, there's the way Daria just facepalms, Sandi smiles with approval and Charles can't help but chuckle as (because it was some pretty-boy frat-types Karen got into it with) Armalin says to her 'Did you REALLY say 'You guys aren't pretty enough to fight - give me a Nine or give me death'?'
ReplyDeleteI think I might write a quick fight scene somewhere...
"This fight brought to you by Wisconsin's Board of Dairy Farmers—
Delete"'Behold the power of cheese.'"
I started out watching ABC daytime and primetime dramas (particularly the works of Aaron Spelling). I can do cheese and melodrama - but it has to be grounded. best example? J.R. Ewing was a cheese-spewing SOB (as were the rest of the Southfork types) - but at the end, you knew that it was all bound by the idea that they believed in the idea of 'doing right by the family'... even if it meant taking a family member down a peg to make them see the light.
DeleteWait until I have a few drinks and do something inspired by the Buffy ep 'Once More, With Feeling', or the Kim Possible ep 'Dimension Twist'. (I'll probably do it on Tuesday. God knows I'll need a few drinks to get through the SOTU and the Dem response. (At least we don't have to worry about a Tea Party response this year...)