I was wondering if anyone could take a look at this combat system and offer any advice or comments.
Here is a quick breakdown of Combat/Weapons/Armor and the Veto System.
Just let me know what you think - if this seems wonky or too much maths or whatever.
Players roll 2d10 and count each roll as a separate roll, trying to beat a Target Number.
If...
a) Rolling 1,1 is a critical failure and indicates that the PC has made a terrible mistake in combat. A critical failure may indicate that PC has fumbled, fallen, or dropped their guard allowing for the combatant to immediately attack.
b) Rolling a 1 or less always results in a failure unless a 10 is rolled on the other die which then becomes a partial success. A partial success results in half damage.
c) 1d10 with an outcome above the target number is a partial success. Half damage is dealt.
d) 2d10 above the target number is a full success. Full damage is dealt.
e) 0 + Success is a Critical Hit. The wound table is consulted for the outcome of the roll if the target is the same
size or smaller than the attacker. If the target is larger, 1.5x damage is dealt.
f) 10,10 results in a Double Critical Hit. If the target is the same size or smaller than the attacker, the Wound table is consulted twice and the highest roll is take. If the target is larger than the attacker, Double damage is dealt.
How armor works...
Most armor has two stats written like this X/X with the first number representing the difficulty to hit and the second number representing how much damage the armor can absorb. The damage inflicted by the attack is based on what degree of success the attack had (Partial, Full, Critical, etc..). The weapons base damage is then modified depending on the level of success.
Partial Success
Example: Bob attacks Mike. Mike has an armor score of 4/4. Bob rolls and gets a 3,8 beating Mike's TN with one roll resulting in a strike which does partial damage. Bob checks the base damage of his weapon which is 12. A partial success does half the base damage of the weapon minus Mike's armor soak score which is 4. So 6 – 4 = 2. Mike takes 2 points of damage.
Full Success
Example: Bob attacks Mike. Mike has an armor score of 4/4. Bob rolls and gets a 5,8 beating Mike's TN with both rolls resulting in a strike which does full damage. Bob checks the base damage of his weapon which is 12. A full success does the base damage of the weapon minus Mike's armor soak score which is 4. So 12 – 4 = 8. Mike takes 8 points of damage.
Critical Success
Example: Bob attacks Mike. Mike has an armor score of 4/4. Bob rolls and gets a 5,10 beating Mike's TN with both rolls (one roll which is a critical success) resulting in a strike which does critical damage. Bob checks the base damage of his weapon which is 12. A critical success does 1.5x the base damage of the weapon minus Mike's armor soak score which is 4. So 18 – 4 = 14. Mike takes 14 points of damage.
Double Critical Success
Example: Bob attacks Mike. Mike has an armor score of 4/4. Bob rolls and gets a 10,10 beating Mike's TN two critical successes resulting in a strike which does double critical damage. Bob checks the base damage of his weapon which is 12. A double critical success does 2x the base damage of the weapon minus Mike's armor soak score which is 4. So 24 – 4 = 20. Mike takes 20 points of damage.
PCs have modifiers that range from -1,0,+1,+2,+3. So, a PC with a +1 or higher bonus, it would be impossible to get a Critical Failure while a completely unskilled PC (-1) would be unable to get a Critical Success.
In order to further balance this system, I have added a Veto rule which allows players to veto bad dice rolls. For example, Bob rolls 1,1 which is a critical failure which has the possibility of resulting in something terrible happening to Bob. Bob decides to use one of his vetoes to reduce the Critical failure down to a normal failure.
These vetoes also work with Critical Successes against a PC. For example, an Ogre attacks Bob and has a roll of 10,10 which would be a Double Critical Success. Bob decides to veto the Ogre's roll which reduces the roll to a Full Success instead.
Vetoes are limited per session, with shorter sessions offering only 1 veto opportunity and longer sessions 2 or 3.