TANK characters

[darkclown789]

Alright, so we have decided to switch from CODA Lord of the Rings to WEG star wars for a bit with a certain group. One of the members.... is a munchkin beyond belief. A few questions as a fellow PC on how to deal with him.

He is going to choose a high STR character.... so how we dare challenge him if he says something and it's "that way or the highway." He usually doesn't play that way... but if he does? And how can I stop him if he is mind controled/turns on the group for some reason?

Wookie: 6D strength, blast vest, V.S. Energy 6D+1, V.S. Physical 7D.

He might choose another race, could be something else, like Barabel, or another creature with armor/high STR.

How are NPC's going to be able to deal according damage to him without completely DESTROYING the rest of the group (with 3D-4D Strength).

Thanks~
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Throw me to the wolves, and I'll return leading the pack.

Wolves do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.

[adamlumina93]

I don't think you should be worried about mind control and him killing the group unless you think you have a "Killer GM". If that situation ever does come up you could always have them throw cp to help oppose the test. Now if you are worried about him using his strength to boss the group around (Been there when we had a character do that with a gamorrean) just tell him flat out that he is not welcome to play under those circumstances. Or if your GM allows have a character with high preception con him into doing the groups way, though this method is not recommended and usually groups who practice this don't last long. IMO strength is the most over rated stat on the sheet, because with careful planning it shouldn't come up much, plus with such high STR he is going to have alot of attribute dice to place elsewhere so he may very well find sitting out on a good bit of playing time. Hope this helps.

[Esoomian]

I've played an Esoomian character (7D basic strength) for a long time and can honestly say that the issue of balance never came up. My character was awesome at anything to do with strength checks and soaking damage (that being said I took some damage when no-one else did because of poor dice rolling)

A character with high strength is going to be very poor in other areas, there just aren't enough stat dice to go round.

As for taking down high strength characters should the need arise things like tractor beams, restraints, blind grenades and the like can be creatively used. If all else fails then massed firepower still works and even a strength 4D character with a vibro axe does 7D damage.
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Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.

Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view.

[Darth Ginzain]

I've had this problem before. The solution I used was a squad of stormtroopers using combined fire to punch through the high strength score. One of the troopers was carrying a light repeater with 6 others assiting. It damages it to something like 8d with the assists. The 8th trooper was commanding. After the wookie is dead the troopers can return to regular fire while your player makes a new character.

[Ray]

E-Web. 'Nuff said.

Or explosives. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, I like the boom!

Still hunting or a group that'll let me play Fluffy.

[darkclown789]

Thanks for the help, all!

~Darkclown
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Throw me to the wolves, and I'll return leading the pack.

Wolves do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.

[GMT]

I know this topic may have already been fully addressed, but I cannot help tossing in my 2 credits as a long time GM.

I have two players in my current game that are tanks. One is a Wookiee, who is just strong, but wears no armor. The other is a human with a 4D+1 strength (yes, he saved up enough CPs to do that, and pulled it off) who also wears armor that gives +1D physical, +3D energy.

I never have any problems with either one of them being too tough. My methods:

- Use attacks that harm the PC but don't target their strength. This includes blinding flash attacks, poisons that require you to roll Perception or Willpower instead of Strength to soak against (hallucinogens, anyone?) or some Force power attacks.

- Target weaknesses. Some of my campaign villains know that the armor wearing, tough human is very good at resisting blaster hits. So, they pack firearms or melee weapons to use against him. 5D+1 isn't nearly as good at soaking a 5D damage bullet or a 6D damage melee blow.

- Combined actions. This was already posted before, but it works very well and should be standard procedure for organized opposition. A squad of stormtroopers can dish out a lot of pain simply by having their officer Command them to combine fire.

- Unique attacks. Your Wookiee may be very strong, but what happens if someone shoots him with a flamethrower? He lights up like a Roman candle, and his armor is likely going to get damaged, not to mention the repeated damage rolls he must resist until the flames go out.

If the PC is hard to damage, then make it hard for them to damage anyone themselves. Target their weapons. It's hard to beat on your enemies when your best vibroax or blaster rifle has been damaged, and most weapons have a body strength of 1D to 2D.

[Esoomian]

[Yak Face]

I was pondering this for a while - I have a situation not entirely dissimilar. My group has a powerful Defel jedi, who spends ALL of his character resources on becoming a combat god. Which, effectively, he is. Admittedly it's a bit easier to hurt him with a grenade than to hurt a 7D strength Wookie, but so few NPCs survive first contact with him that it's not so simple (without stacking the deck unfairly).

But what I've discovered is that it really doesn't seem to hurt anything in terms of game play. The other players get jollies from watching him demolish hordes of enemy troops in true jedi fashion. The other players still get hurt - he can't protect them all - so they still encounter risk and enjoy that thrill of battle. I don't expect my NPCs to win battles, except when it's part of the story - and then I send in overwhelming force. So, if they get massacred in tragic-comic fashion, so be it. Kill all ya want - I'll make more. But I do set up the system so that, much like real life, you can't always get what you want by bullying.

The beast is so lacking in other rudimentary skills that combat is his only way to contribute to mission success; that limits his ability to radically change the outcome of the adventure. The others have their hands quite full when dealing with any puzzles, character interaction skills, knowledge skills, perception skills, driving or piloting things, programming, etc. I make them do all that stuff to get what they want. You should have seen the look on the player's face when his allmighty jedi's swoop broke down in the middle of the desert on Soccorro. He had a repair difficulty of 10 in order to clean sand out of the intake manifold and various filters, and had zero chance of success with his 1D skill (I don't allow the wild die or burning SP's for dice) without losing a force point. He's nearly been blown up in starships more than once, and utterly unable to influence his own fate in that regard.

To make my long-winded point - I think it'll work out OK.
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However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. -Sir Winston Churchill

[garhkal]

As some have said, target his weak attributes... He is tough, but it is hard to damage what you cannot reach. Imagine if you will someone shooting liquid nitrogen (or a stream of oil) at his feet... can he stand???

Or those flash bangs..
My version of them are as follows

If not expecting it, have the 'target' roll perception.
30 or more - no effect
25 or more - -1d from daized effect for 2 rounds
20 or more - -2d from being daized for 4 rounds
15 or more - -3d from being daized for 6 rounds
10 or more - stunned into being ineffective for 1d minutes.
5 or more - Stunned into being ineffective for 1d days
4 or less - blinded and deafened for 1d days.

Then you have other means to defeat him with mind powers. Rather than take him over and have him bash the others, hows about the baddie toys with him... like using Aff mind/cont mind etc to make him think he is a little toddler (much like xavier was going to do to wolverine in X2), or make him so scared he locks up and sucks his thumb.....
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[GMT]

[Esoomian]

[garhkal]

That is true. One game we had a wookie pay out the butt for a heavy suit of armor (3d energy prot, -2d dex) and later bought off the dex penalty (well 1d+1 of it), ubt soon realised that the enemy would have to bring heavy weaponry to even stand a chance of being a 'challenge' to him. BUT that level of challenge would be a killer to the others if they were in the blast area... so he soon changed his ways.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!