I just worry that a system where whoever has the higher stat USUALLY wins might bore some of my players. Can anyone please give me an example combat where someone with a lower stat overcomes an opponent who has a superior stat?
I also read that there are randomizers in the game but haven't gotten that far in my reading yet. Is there some kind of randomizer option similar to dice you can use for these kinds of situations to make outcomes not so sure a thing?
Thanks in advance!
A: Well, let's start with talking about a straightforward exchange of blows: if both characters spend the round just trying to attack each other, and nothing else comes into play, then the guy with the higher Class rank will win. But outside of that, things become more complex: let's say that one guy knows that the other is probably better than him, and tries to be cautious; if his opponent is two Classes higher than him, by fighting with great defensiveness, he'll be able to avoid being hit. If the characters are less than that in difference, he might even be able to score a hit against his opponent if the other guy is more reckless, though that guy might also score a hit against him.
The guy in the weaker position could also try to take advantage of something in his environment to help even the odds. If he fights cautiously, then he might make the battle go long enough that Fortitude comes into play; if his opponent's fortitude is lower than his, he might be able to tire the other guy out. If his opponent's fortitude is more than two Classes lower than his, he might want to risk a hit to himself to be able to hit his opponents, and bet on the likelihood that his opponent will bleed out or collapse from exhaustion before him.
If they're really even, by continuing to fight cautiously, he might end up bringing luck into play, so he might be luckier than the other guy and catch a break that gives him advantage.
So in combat its not just a single attribute that's being compared; its potentially at least three (the combat attribute (might or prowess), the restedness attribute (Fortitude) and Luck). BUT, you can go even further: if one guy realizes his opponent is a lot better at swordplay (Prowess) than he is, he might want to try to get in close and switch to wrestling match; and suddenly instead of Prowess vs. Prowess its Prowess vs. Might; or Might vs. Might if the other guy does the same!
Or he might try to use magic or enter into mental combat with the other guy, and then Ego comes into play.
So really, conflict in Lords of Olympus is far from boring; it turns into a game of trying to trump the other guy's strengths with your own; shifting the conditions of the fight to your favor while trying to prevent the other guy from doing the same. And in Lords of Olympus there are lots of specific guidelines about how to adjudicate all this.
So the "Randomizer" in the game are the players and which of their abilities they try to "tap" into in a given struggle.
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