Minisix RPG Static Defenses

[Liquidsabre]

Anyone try using these for running SWD6?

For those not familiar with this variant it involves the use of static defenses for Block (Brawling Parry skill dice x3 + pips), Dodge (Dodge skill dice x3 + pips), Parry (Melee Parry skill dice x3 + pips), and Soak (Strength dice x3 + pips + armor). Full Dodge/Parry would provide a +10 to the applicable defense.

This variant would replace rolling against attacks as a reaction and would be the base difficulty required to hit the character. The minisix rpg seemed to downplay the effect this would have on the D6 system but I am finding this would effect quite a bit. Not having to declare actions for reactive dodges/parries seems to shake up the combat paradigm, not sure if this is in a good way or not yet.
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Belsarius: "All clear!"
Sarge: "Alright, now....wait a sec kid. Do you mean 'all clear' or is this a slavers-on-Daysum III 'all clear'?"

[Naaman]

I always thought using your actions to dodge/parry was stupid, anyway... In our games, dodges and parries are always rolled at full die code, regardless of number of actions declared.

[jmanski]

So you can do 5 actions and still parry at FULL dice? That doesn't seem right.
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Blasted rules. Why can't they just be perfect?

[Liquidsabre]

It just reduces lethality a bit, just as many other house rules do by either increasing character point usage, using an alternate damage/wound system, or just sticking with 1e damage rules.

With static defenses you have the benefit of cutting combat time for dice rolling in half, albeit using a slightly below average result. Balanced sicne NPCs will have the same defenses, though I am skeptical of any net time saving since this may result in slightly longer combats.
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Belsarius: "All clear!"
Sarge: "Alright, now....wait a sec kid. Do you mean 'all clear' or is this a slavers-on-Daysum III 'all clear'?"

[Naaman]

[cheshire]

So, essentially it's a static number to hit, much like a reflex defense in the d20 SAGA?
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Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind.

[Liquidsabre]

Yes that's correct. Static defenses for a character with a Brawling Parry 3D+2, Dodge 5D, Melee Parry 4D+1, and Strength 3D+1 (blast vest adds +1) would simply look like this:

Block 11, Dodge 15, Parry 13, Soak 11

These are the difficulty numbers for attackers attempting to hit the character in a normal fight (has a melee weapon to parry at hand, not surprised, etc.). For damage Soak is simply subtracted from incoming damage and then any remaining compared to the damage effect table.

For simplicity these values in Minisix don't seem to be affected by any dice pool penalties (just as Strength vs. damage works by RAW). So tactics for stacking penalties and beating down an enemy's defenses doesn't seem to apply here. Not sure if I like that.

I was considering using a simpler and less lethal damage system for 2e R&E SWD6 gaming but I think if I use static defenses this will accomplish the same thing but also make combat a little faster to resolve. I was just wondering if anyone had used static defenses in a SWD6 or Minisix game.
_________________
Belsarius: "All clear!"
Sarge: "Alright, now....wait a sec kid. Do you mean 'all clear' or is this a slavers-on-Daysum III 'all clear'?"

[garhkal]

Do they still get to opt to roll of they don't like the static number? Can they add CP/FP to it?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Liquidsabre]

As I understand it, when using Minisix's Static Defenses option these skills are never rolled. Though rolling your defense dice and adding it to your static value for the full dodge/parry action sounds like more fun to me.

Character Points may be spent and added to defense values. For example, a character with Dodge 14 spends a character point and rolls a 4 making their Dodge 18 for the incoming attack. The same character spending a Force Point adds 10 to all defenses (as with the full defense action, which would add another 10 to all defenses when spending a FP). At least, that's how I'd probably run this using static defenses. Minisix doesn't really have a Force Point equivalent and so no rules for how to handle it.
_________________
Belsarius: "All clear!"
Sarge: "Alright, now....wait a sec kid. Do you mean 'all clear' or is this a slavers-on-Daysum III 'all clear'?"

[Liquidsabre]

So did anyone find static defenses compelling in the slightest?
_________________
Belsarius: "All clear!"
Sarge: "Alright, now....wait a sec kid. Do you mean 'all clear' or is this a slavers-on-Daysum III 'all clear'?"

[cheshire]

I'm actually thinking about trying it out soon in a one-shot.
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Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind.

[JT Swift]

Actually anytime if have a bunch of low level mooks fighting my PCs I just assume all the NPCs rolled 3.5xDice+pips+cover. So the defense ends up being static for most of the bad guys. Saves a lot of time as multiple players can roll their attacks at the same time and just tell me whether they hit or not.
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- J.T. Swift

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[ZzaphodD]

[Guardian_A]

3.5xDice+pips+cover. This is what I do for NPCs as well (With rare exceptions for special situations). I also tend to pre-roll a lot of important rolls before the game starts to save time during the play.

[Barrataria]