Jousting.. who knows it may happen

[garhkal]

Since there are many planets in SW, some at space age level tech, some still in their medieval days, i was thinking of what could happen should a team of PCs crash ON one of those medieval planets, and as part of their hunt for repair parts they need to participate in a series of medieval games.
Now many can be easily handled with melee-melee parry rules, some might just go for str checks (tug o wars), but i am stuck on what to do for Jousting.
I see it as being
A) a riding check to get into proper place (Beast riding skill)
B) melee check to hit your opponent with him having an opposed melee parry roll to try and avoid your lance
C) Some sort of str, dex or even a 2nd Beast riding check to stay in the saddle.

Its that latter part i am wondering. Should the 'damage or to hit roll' over what was needed to 'tag' your opponent be used as a penalty to your 2nd beast riding roll?
Would making it a soak roll first with the overage of what damage is scored be more appropriate?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[CRMcNeill]

It wouldn't necessarily be just for beast-riding combat, either. In the opening scenes of the manga film Akira, outlaw biker gangs could be seen using polearms against each other from the backs of moving cycles, so a swoop gang wielding force pikes or vibro-axes would not be too far outside the realm of possibility.

It could also be an explanation for the existence of the dual-phase lightsaber, with the longer blade (in the 2-3 meter range) being used to increase the Jedi's offensive and defensive reach when fighting while mounted on a beast or speeder bike...

As far as combat rules, I'm partial to the Dueling Blades technique, which uses opposed rolls to generate the result. One of their result options was a Knockdown, which could be re-interpreted to being unhorsed, or "unmounted".
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[cheshire]

This depends on a few things. IF this is based on tournament jousting, then it kind of depends on what time frame within the medieval period. I mean, regardless, it was always dangerous, though they did do a few things to help keep things safER. Like introducing that nice wooden "gate" on to the list to keep the horses on their own paths and to reduce collisions. And also other niceties like not ACTUALLY trying to kill the other person as often was the case for trial by combat. But, people still died from taking wood fragments from splintering lances on occasion (just ask Henry II of France).

One way or the other, in the 15th and early 16th century, jousting armor had become it's own specialized niche different from its battlefield counterpart (which makes sense because the martial activity of jousting had become obsolete by then). Basically, they would design these things with fewer joints and made with contours that would help the lance glance off rather than stick. So, type of armor makes a big difference. It also greatly matters if you're WEARING IT PROPERLY! (Just ask King Henry VIII about proper seating of visors).

But, with all that aside, from the way I understand it (never actually having jousted before), it was mostly about
1. Controlling the beast.
2. Proper placement of your lance
3. Using your shield to try to deflect the opponent's lance.

The idea was to plant the lance in such a way that it shattered on your opponent's shield or armor, or in some cases completely unhorse them. (Which is about as unsafe as it sounds, even in armor.)

So, it looks like you've got some MAPs stacked on top of MAPs to do this. I would say Beast Riding in the same Round as a Melee Weapons: Lance, as well as a Melee Defense: Shield.

The C) point that you list in your description also seems like a reasonable idea. I would say if you hit your opponent's defense, then the lance would break. If you exceed the difficulty by five or more, then they would have to make a strength roll to keep from being unhorsed.

Even if they aren't crash landed in someone's medieval era, it sounds like a ripe area for exploration of someone that has a deep martial tradition. After all, we still have boxing, wrestling, javelin throws, and fencing, even if they are much more sport-oriented than their "let's kill people" predecessors.
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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.

[evilnerf]

I'm just going to point out the IG Lancer Droid.
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His eyes are shifty. That's how you know the nerf did it.

[Jedi Skyler]

This is an interesting thought, gar!

I like the notion of something like this being the reason a dual phase lightsaber was created. It would, at least, certainly be a good reason for someone already possessing a lightsaber to convert it (or build another one) so they had a dual phase model.

I could see a LOT of possibilities springing from this notion.

[cheshire]

[Whill]

[garhkal]

Glad people are liking this idea.


So how's about this for a intro run.

Each rider in a pass, needs to make a very easy beast riding diff roll to keep the horse (or other animal) on track (higher if the beast has above a 2d Orneriness rating)
In the same action (so applying Maps) the user must make both a Melee (S) Lance) combat roll, and a Melee parry (S) Shield) roll. If the parry roll defeats the combat roll by more than 5, the lance of the opponent failed to break. If the combat roll beats the parry roll by 5 or more then the person hit needs to soak damage (say 4d) but uses Dex rather than strength, to remain seated. Every 3 more than the above adds 1 to the "damage roll"
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[atgxtg]

I'd suggest using the mount's STR rather than the rider's for damage in a charge. It's the extra mass and speed from the mount that makes a lance charge so devastating.

Probably with a modifier for speed. Something like:

Cautious: -1D
Normal" +0D
High Speed: +1D
All-Out: +2D


Crunching the numbers a little, a medieval knight in full armor, on a heavy warhorse hits with about the same energy as the bullet from a .50 caliber machine gun.

[evilnerf]

[CRMcNeill]

Just use the swoop's Body Strength as a representation of its mass in motion.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Savar]

[garhkal]

What of basing the damage on a mix of size/speed and the mount's str?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Savar]

[garhkal]

Plus it should be the combined speed of both animals/vehicles. Just like crash damage is double for a head on collision compared to a side swipe or Tbone..
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!