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Post by bradscott on Sept 12, 2013 21:06:29 GMT -8
Hey all,
Just looking for some thoughts,
One of the scenes I have planned for the next session of my Stargate Game (GURPS) will be F302's dogfighting against Wraith Darts. Now this will be awesome for the 1 of my 8 players who is a Pilot and maybe 1 of the other PC's if he rides in the backseat of the F302, but not super exciting for the others.
So I was thinking of running two combats at the same time, the Pilot Dogfighting outside while the other PC's repel a boarding Action inside the mother ship. That way I can just step through initiative the same way I would if all the PC's where in the same place in a combat.
Can anyone think of a reason why this might not work?
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maxinstuff
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Post by maxinstuff on Sept 13, 2013 3:10:20 GMT -8
Sounds like a great idea - IF you are confident the players will behave exactly the way you describe above.
It should work out the same whether it is two players in melee with two separate enemies in the same room - or two players doing things on opposite sides of the planet. PROVIDED these two things are happening simultaneously. My concern would be that players might be reluctant to do something that splits the party that way in the first place.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2013 3:26:21 GMT -8
So long as the players are happy with it then yeah I think that's the best way to handle two separate combats. My only real concern would be that if the pilot is on their own and gets in trouble nobody can directly back them up / save them.
I'd also suggest finding ways you can link the two combats. For example the pilot could have an opportunity to destroy another boarding party, if they fail the PCs on the ship suddenly have to face enemy reinforcements. Alternatively the PCs on the ship could have to try and retake a control room in order to activate point defences, if they achieve that some of the ships attacking the pilot get targeted etc.
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Post by jazzisblues on Sept 13, 2013 6:31:11 GMT -8
You could also resolve them at different times. Have the pilot and reo come at one time, the rest come at another time resolve both events and then have them come back together when they get back together in game.
That way nobody is sitting around waiting for the others, but it means more work for you.
JiB
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Post by kaitoujuliet on Sept 13, 2013 7:10:19 GMT -8
I did this in the Star Wars game I ran last spring, and it worked beautifully. At one point, the party was split across three different areas across a large building. Handling them in initiative order was very cinematic and gave the impression of quick camera cuts between the various groups.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2013 10:10:32 GMT -8
Yeah, I've done this a few times in pulp games, gives the feeling of a large scale cinematic battle with the camera cutting from character to character as the action goes on around them. Add in details from the two fights, ie the guys inside the mothership hear explosions of the ship itself os rocking with each hit, while the guys in the fighters are hearing yells and gunfire over their comms from the fight inside. Helps make them all part of the same battle even though they are technically in their own fights.
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Post by bradscott on Sept 13, 2013 15:05:08 GMT -8
Yeah thanks guys,
Obviously the key point is that it plays out the way I think it will, which as we all know well it might not, just want to be prepared. The biggest issue will be the likely outcome that the Dog Fight will start long before boarders get on board the PC's ship.
Yes the idea of their actions having an effect on one another's combats is great and I'll work something out for that.
JiB - the splitting them up to the run the sessions seperatly would have been ideal , but I didn't end the previous session at a point in time where that would have been workable. I'm basically running the whole campaign that way as it is. I have two teams of 4 players and once a Month they play just their own team and once a month I run a session with both teams together. So we get those times where the teams are split and come together or are together and get split up.
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Post by jazzisblues on Sept 17, 2013 6:19:15 GMT -8
Yeah thanks guys, Obviously the key point is that it plays out the way I think it will, which as we all know well it might not, just want to be prepared. The biggest issue will be the likely outcome that the Dog Fight will start long before boarders get on board the PC's ship. Yes the idea of their actions having an effect on one another's combats is great and I'll work something out for that. JiB - the splitting them up to the run the sessions seperatly would have been ideal , but I didn't end the previous session at a point in time where that would have been workable. I'm basically running the whole campaign that way as it is. I have two teams of 4 players and once a Month they play just their own team and once a month I run a session with both teams together. So we get those times where the teams are split and come together or are together and get split up. Ah gotcha ... Sounds like a great setup, and for me personally if I was in one group I would enjoy watching the other group doing their thing too. JiB
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2013 12:12:49 GMT -8
What I've seen done is similar to what everyone has said so far with the cutting back and forth but this GM ran two rounds of combat for each fight before switching to the other fight. This allowed him a bit more flex in his time line.
Say your pilot is taking out a group of enemy fighters in his two rounds of combat, then switch to the ground team who all but takes out a group of goons, now back to the pilot, you narrate him taking out the last fighter but now he's got a small frigate on his tale, then back to the ground team who have cleared out a couple of hallways and are now outside the door to the command center to activate the defenses.
It might not be something you use all the time but you could toss it in once or twice to speed the story up. Maybe use it to skip the clean up phases of combat or dramatically alter one side of the battlefield.
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Post by jazzisblues on Sept 19, 2013 6:30:26 GMT -8
I was thinking about this last night and it occurred to me that you might want to run them simultaneously using the same initiative but separate maps. This might give you even more of the idea of the cut scene where things are happening all at once but the camera keeps flashing from person to person. The problem would be that it could get confusing and people could forget that they are not actually in the same fight. That's the gm's problem to keep organized though.
Just a thought,
JiB
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Post by bradscott on Sept 20, 2013 2:39:54 GMT -8
Ah gotcha ... Sounds like a great setup, and for me personally if I was in one group I would enjoy watching the other group doing their thing too. JiB The team that's not playing just doesn't show up that night, so they get to follow what happens through the mission reports the players submit, or when they catch up with the other team next either on or off world. But yeah its really satisfying for me watch the the two teams do things, one team having to come to the rescue of another team is great and even the players looking at their watches coming up to the end of the session knowing that the next session they will be paying either with or without the other team and wondering how I was going to work it into the story.
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Post by bradscott on Sept 20, 2013 2:43:27 GMT -8
Ah gotcha ... Sounds like a great setup, and for me personally if I was in one group I would enjoy watching the other group doing their thing too. JiB The team that's not playing just doesn't show up that night, so they get to follow what happens through the mission reports the players submit, or when they catch up with the other team next either on or off world. But yeah its really satisfying for me watch the the two teams do things, one team having to come to the rescue of another team is great and even the players looking at their watches coming up to the end of the session knowing that the next session they will be paying either with or without the other team and wondering how I was going to work it into the story. Yeah I'm thinking I'll set myself up with my initiative white board in between two tables, one with the space map and one with the internals of the ship. The characters will be in radio contact with one another anyway so they can shout encouragement to one another across the tables.
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Post by The Northman on Oct 1, 2013 4:00:11 GMT -8
One of the things that worked well for me in the past with split-party combat is flipping to the other side when an action has been declared, but not yet resolved by the dice.
For example:
A PC is wrestling with an enemy soldier. Both of them have been disarmed, and the fight is on. The enemy produces a pistol from his belt and plugs the barrel into the PC's gut.
-Switch-
Meanwhile, on top of the train, another PC has been left dangling off the ledge. He makes his roll to recover/climb back up, and resumes chasing the bad guy leader.
It's not always that obvious in terms of leaving cliff-hanger moments, but your ability to define the actions of the enemies and 'cut the scene,' let you build a lot of tension into those breaks. Plus it gives players a chance to catch their breath, and a reason to stay engaged when the other guys are being featured.
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