Figting and Capturing Large Creatures

[dph]

I have pretty balanced four player 'crew' who I wish to put up against a number of 'large' creatures (like but not necessarily a Wampa, Rancor, K'lor'slug, etc.) over a series of different adventures; that is 4 players VS 1 large creature.

I've found that these kinds of battles end up either the players having difficluty scratching an invariably high strength score or the creature being overwhelmed by superior numbers- Either way a boring fight.

I would also liketo have them subdue and capture some of these larger creatures. How can I augment the players ability to do this without dropping a powerful reusable weapons at their feet?

What are some suggestions for making these encounters interesting and balanced. Some examples would be great!

Thanks all

[Random Numbers]

A one shot stun rpg!
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Random is who random does...

[garhkal]

Single use stun mines. Single use sonic mines/grenades. Expensive as heck gas grenades.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[cheshire]

Use terrain to your advantage. If there are boulders and valleys, they make great impromptu weapons rolling down a hill.

I've never tried it, but you could resort to using Body Points from D6 Space on the really huge creatures.
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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.

[ZzaphodD]

[atgxtg]

[ZzaphodD]

I didnt read the problem as such that it was too hard to take down beasts. The problem is finding a 'balance' where there a prolonged nail biting struggle. The current system is a bit all or nothing which works fine when it comes to 'normal size' opponents but results in the problem described for larger creatures (ie either invulrnerable or just steamrolled).

[Kytross]

Called shots. Take out their eyes, their ears, their limbs and take the creature apart piecemeal. Remember, called shots are at higer difficulty levels.

I always have to look it up to see if Character points can be used to augment damage. But if they can then by all means, use them.

Give them an environmental hazard. Luke used the gate to kill the rancor. Vent a Nexu into the void of space. The players will have to herd the animal to the trap, but c'est la guerre!

A wampa and an acklay both roll 7D against blaster fire. A four person team using combined fire with a 5D rifle would do 6D+1 damage. 7D versus 6D+1, now it's a relatively fair fight. Your players will probably only be able to do a 3-4 damage differential until they explode on the wild die, but it should prove to be a long, gruesome fight you'll never forget.

[Hellcat]

You could try having a skill damage bonus added to possibly do damage (or even stun). Rules of Engagement lays out some optional combat rules, one of which is a couple variations of the skill damage bonus. In the first the character rolls their to hit roll, if they hit, then they subtract the difficulty number from their roll, the result is then added to their damage roll. Let's say the difficulty was a 12 and you rolled a 26 (either you got lucky on the WD or had plenty of dice). That's a 14 difference. Then you roll damage and get 17, adding in the 14 you've now rolled 31 damage. The target now has to resist 31 instead of 17. A higher level character has more chance of resisting, of course, but this increases the chances of hitting

In the second variation of the skill damage bonus (which is for if GMs think the first is too deadly) the character gets +1 to the damage roll for every five points they beat the the difficulty by. If the difficulty is 10 and you get 25 then you'd ad +3 to the damage roll.
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[ZzaphodD]

Again, the OP:s problem is not taking down large beasts, but instead finding balance to make them challenging. They are either Overpowering or get overpowered as it is.

[garhkal]

[atgxtg]

[ZzaphodD]

[tetsuoh]

lmao you wouldn't even have to give my character a new toy....

I'm pretty sure a bandolier of 16 stun grenades would work rather effectively as a final blow for a creature capture....

and they're reusable!

Anyway, I'd add a nice chunk of story and perhaps odd abilities or creature handlers if the players seem to have too big an advantage.

and for too tough a creature I'd add opportunities such as catching it asleep, ways to lure it into traps - etc etc.

nice nice graphic - a solid gray rancor - pet to a dathomir witch. The crew is paid nicely to capture it alive, the employer could care less about its master.
The crew split into two groups - one sneaks into the witchs home to deal with her only be caught up in a fight for thier lives. meanwhile the other group tried to smoke the rancor with sleep gass but a misstep awoke it and they are being chased down the canyon towards thier second trap - a line of sonic stun mines.

[garhkal]

Only if thy are merr-sonn stun grenades. All others are non rechargable.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!