Rifleman Archive

I'm not sure if anything like this has already been proposed, but I think I may have a logical way of redesigning HAM costs. With any fighting art, one becomes better and more efficient with practice. A boxer's timing, savvy, and pacing improve. A black belt in Tae Kwon Do can snap off a series of high kicks that would leave non practitioners gasping for breath. Judoka and their ilk can shoot in, make someone tap, rinse, repeat. Experienced marksmen do not tense up the way first timers do. The point being, practice leads to combat efficiency.

While the devs reconsider the HAM drain system, would it be possible to model this? For every skill box one gains, special moves could drain x% less HAM in that discipline? This would provide, IMHO a little more realistic modeling, and reduce my need to be an Irish sniper. T21s and brandy just should not go together this well, science fiction or no.

Maybe the coding would be nightmarish, I don't know. But does this sound even a little bit reasonable? Maybe call it drain mitigation, and give it a series of steps. Any thoughts?

"...a man with wit more tongue in cheek than a lesbian orgy." Joel Gertner

i second that but it also needs to reflect the character's speed. the more of your specials pool you use the slower you get and the less powerful your attacks would become. this would reflect fatigue accurately. food could then be used like exo-protein wafers to offset fatigue until you get full.

the size of your specials pool is determined by the average of your primary stats and would be drained by damage and wounds. the rate of base usage and regen would be derived from an average of your secondary skills. for example. player has a HAM of 600/400/500 700/300/800 900/400/500 (just random stats not based on anything but raw guesses and probably far outside of any species normal ranges.)

so this gives the player a special pool of around 734 the drain rate would be a valued derived from averaging strenght quickness and focus and a recovery rate derived from the other three remaining stats.

damage wounds and usage can drain the specials pool. as the main pool drains the player's fire rate and damage decrease and fatigue starts to take effect. as a player gains in mastery the rate at which the pool drains from use and the rate at which it regenerates should increase. battlefatigue would affect how fast the pool decreases and how fast it regens. food and drink should be able to offset these factors and camping in tents should make the contents of the stomach decrease more rapidly depending on how good the tent camp is.

a practical example would be for a master of a combat skill would be able to perform at top speed and effectiveness without rest for several minutes at a time while a novice would only be able to perform for maybe 10-15 seconds before they start feeling the effects of fatigue. as a player drains and regens the specials pool past certain points it would build up battlefatigue.

effect would be for example a master would be able to use max speed and damage for very short time frames almost indefinately but draining the pools repeatedly and regening them in extended combat would build up massive ammounts of battlefatigue rapidly. players should no longer build fatigue by taking damage.

this would almost guarantee the need for entertainers and rangers in the field. ranger and scout camps should allow entertainer faigue healing in the camps if it doesnt already allow it. right now fatigue really has no effect on combat and there is no reason to invite your entertainer friends out for a nite of camping and hunting.

Created Account July 2003 - Canceled account Nov 2005. The NGE made me do it.
Barb Wire
Former Dark Force Wielder
Ex-Imperial Navy