Re: Team Tactics

["Kris Ames" <kris@cioe.com>]

Another reason was also eluded to by someone else (I think Rob). 
Basically during the informational questions stage after all
"situation type questions have been asked" their conceivable could
be another informational questions of "character body language".  I
mean if I see a fire mage "staring at a nice circular group of
people and poised to raise their hands"  my character would take
this to mean that they might be contemplating a fire ball and
running up to that group of people to melee would be a bad idea. 
This second round a questions would take forever and be a real pain
in the Arse to judicate.  It would have to be a second round because
characters might have no way of knowing what they were going to do
until the GM has stated what the "enemy" and surroundings look like.

In reality people can change actions in mid stream (just like Steve
said).  I mean if I am starting to walk across the street and I hear
Greg shout STOP!!! I can stop (all in under 4 seconds).  The tactics
skill is just a short cut and allows a little bit more reality into
the situation without bogging down combat rounds.

I guess I just don't view it as a crook.

Also by programmed actions being barred by Dan, I think everyone
means that I can't say to Dan "Anytime I see the fire mage raise his
hands like so, I will not charge up to a group of people for melee
even if that was my stated and locked in action"  or anytime I see
another player running toward a wall that I am within 10 feet of I
will change my locked in action to become a kneel with a cupped hand
(I.E. set up to boost them over the wall). 

Know if me and the party preagreed (this would take hours) that if I
say "Ha Ta" the previous round I am going to run up to the wall to
try and make it over so the nearest person to the wall needs to go
up to the wall, kneel and give me a boost" that would be allowed. 
The problem with this is that if the previous round I said "Ha Ta" ,
but at the end of that round an earth mage spell which turned the
wall into mud took effect and the wall no longer exists, the
previous round set up is moot.  Real people would just then want to
do the "shadow and weave" maneuver which was programmed action keyed
off word "Hidy Ho" (to bad I can't say that AND act on it this round
since like you could in "reality).  The tactics skill takes care of
this.

-Kris

----------
> From: Steve Ames <steve@ns1.cioe.com>
> To: gmlist@cioe.com; lhjanney@adpc.purdue.edu
> Subject: Re: Team Tactics
> Date: Friday, August 21, 1998 9:21 AM
> 
> [much interesting spew deleted for brevity and to make room for my
own]
> 
> Combat is fluid. The belief that people can individually plan out
the
> next four seconds without any regard for what everyone else will
be
> doing (table talk) is a little questionable. In a given situation
I
> expect to react to others in a split second. If something changes
I
> expect planned actions to change as well. If I pull out my call
book
> and say: Plan B!... then I wait out the round because no one can
respond
> to my call until the next round. Then, according to Plan I pull
open
> a door so that bob can charge through and kill stuff. But when the
door
> opens its a plasma inferno in there... bobs preplanned action is
to
> charge in. His _LOCKED_ action. That is insane. One look at that
and he
> should be screaming "SHUT THE DOOR" not running into it with sword
drawn.
> 
> But locked actions are locked actions. *sigh* This is where our
tactics
> skill comes in. To some extent it allows us to react to one
another and
> to the situation. Circumventing an otherwise insanely static part
of the
> rules.
> 
> 						-Steve