Boring combat

[Yubacore]

Hi all, I'm new here and new at GMing D6. This will be my 7th session coming up here soon and I had some questions if I my tap into your collective knowledge.

Combat always seems to end up in the same spot: (not always but most of the time) short range and trading blaster fire until (a) someone gets lucky and makes a good damage roll (b) someone gets bored and starts spending CPs on damage (c) throwing grenades. How could I break this up and make it more tactically enjoyable?
Movement never seems to come into play either. I've made encounters where PCs and NPCs start out at long range in cluttered streets with smoke grenades between them but the PCs still just sit back and exchange shots or chuck grenades while complaining when they don't roll well.
I really want to make combat a thinking problem, I've tried to reward out-of-the-box thinking in combat but it never seems to take. Just seems like my players want to "win".

[Methedor]

Hello, Hello

I have some thoughts for you:

-In the case of urban combat you could have active repulsor or airspeeds weaving or in the case of Airspeeder crashing into or around the characters. With this you can have them doge or state the it is coming and they have to move or be hit, this also applies to the enemies.

-You could have your PCs foes move to complete over say around walls that would necessitate the PCs to move to a different angle and ever perhaps to one that would be disadvantageous. An alternative to this is have the enemies crouch behind cover that has enough of a gap to see but not shoot and have them either hunker down or lob grenades.

-Weather Conditions! Maybe winds push the characters around or their cover. Perhaps the rain or fog is so thick that they need to move closer or it messes with the blaster cohesion causing less damage at further ranges.

-Another side to the conflict or maybe a local gang or faction doing their own thing accidentally interferes with the battle field. A building goes own for fire? A nearby speeder explodes taking cover away or adding new ones. Hmm maybe a person decides to make an emergency landing a their impromptu battle zone thus acting as an object they need to fight around.

- Of course there are always ray shield and blast door either controlled by a villain or as an automated response to something else happening.

Hope this helps ya!.

[jmanski]

Keep it simple: if the PCs don't move the bad guys will flank them, surround them, or use increasing firepower. Movement is key to combat.
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Blasted rules. Why can't they just be perfect?

[garhkal]

Have the enemy start using tactics.. Flank the pc's so they have to split their fire.
Have them use cover and consealment.
Called shots TO pc's weaponry.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Yubacore]

Methedor, Thank you for all the insights and suggestions! I can't pick one over the other, they're all really great. Weather conditions idea sounds so rad. Also, I'm liking the idea of the villains hunkering down and making the PCs come to them, excellent!

[Methedor]

In the heat of combat unless it was rather obvious like attacking and aiming at the hilt of a lightsaber with a ranged weapon I'd say tell at the damage result.

[garhkal]

[Ninjaxenomorph]

As others mentioned, you can spice up combat by adding new tactics. Maybe the enemies use smoke grenades and close in melee/have MFTAS, use glop grenades, have them start airdropping people or using speeders/walkers.

[Methedor]

You could also have people on roof tops in "Sniping" position along with the ground force. There is also Flying Droids. Oh! You could have people behind Droid Deka's (Destroyer Droids) and have their shields be up so they act as Cover" then have them deactivate the shields to allow the people to fire. This should make the PCs think about when to move in the initiative. Though this would require the NPCs to hold their initiative to a low value to essentially be "Last". In this case Initiative match the Droids so they can fire when the bubble goes down.

[DougRed4]

Great suggestions already. I'd just add to vary the environment, too. Think about all the cool set pieces we saw in the movies. You can have one indoors, the next outdoors, one in a swamp, another in frozen wastes, etc.

Running around on a ship can be a lot of fun, too, especially huge ones that have massive chasms characters can fall down (like you see on the Death Star), or you could do the same thing with a massive industrial complex.

Take a look at some of the pictures from my campaign, especially page 5, for some ideas.

Mix in creatures (just about every movie had at least one), as well as other adversaries (bandits, swoop bikers, gangsters) that use different tactics.

One fight I thought was a lot of fun I had at a nightclub that didn't allow weapons. Some of my PCs tried to sneak theirs in, but I made a really sophisticated sensor at the door (sort of like a metal detector) that easily spotted them. So they were forced to leave their blasters and other firearms in lockers outside. But they were meeting somebody inside, so when the stuff hit the fan they were forced to fight HTH.
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[garhkal]

That's another good way to keep things from getting boring. Planetary (or even just local) restrictions on what weapons/armor can be brought in by outsiders, or non Mil/bounty hunters (and the latter only if they can prove or show enough proof the person they are hunting is there).
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Yubacore]

Yeah, all of these suggestions are awesome! Especially the ones that make the players think and if they jump into it without thinking, just guns blazing, they might regret it.

I have a session tonight and I want to try some of these out. I'll report back as soon as I can.

Thanks everyone!

[Methedor]

Looking forward to the report.

[Yubacore]

Sorry it's taken so long, it's just taken that long to get the group back together.

I've been really excited to try out some of the tips given here. I'm running a module so I decided to keep it simple (also the end of the adventure). I decided to go with- making the characters figure out how to get by stormtroopers who are fighting from behind cover. They must get by them to continue but the stormtroopers hold their ground. So I sat back to see what this would produce. Hopefully I would see something more interesting that a standup exchange of blaster fire. Stormtroopers used combined fire with the help of a commander and had an E-Web Repeater DAM 8D.

First round the characters win initiative, chuck grenades, combat over (pretty much). I even made use of the environmental aspect- all the PC had to make checks for the extreme heat, when they failed they had to remove their armor or suffer -1D to stats. After some extreme moaning/complaining I relented to let them rest in the shade to recover. Ok, fine.

The adventure is over but we are starting a campaign now and they are going to make new characters. They had a Wookie in the group (which is the most horribly broken character ever, so stupid!) which is funny that someone brand new to the game, and in role-playing would pick one. I had people shoot him point blank, grenades land on his face and nothing, like a fly landed on him. I don't even know how to spin the fiction when something like that happens.

Anyway, if anybody has any suggestions as to how I can start this new adventure off on the right foot I would be very happy. Honestly I'm more frustrated than having fun. Partly due to learning the rules, partly due to the combat and OP characters.

Thanks

[DougRed4]

Yeah, the "Blaster-Proof Wookiee" is a problem more than a few of us have faced.

I'd strongly recommend you consider this house rule that I really feel helps.

And somebody else recently dealt with the same exact thing.

I had a player that was keen on playing a Wookiee once. And in a very brief campaign with my children my son did the same. But I've generally encouraged players not to choose that race. Not because of them being blaster-proof, but I just felt that having the person never being able to really speak normally at the table would get really old really fast.
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green