Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Captain Mayday]

Currently it appears that knockback is linked to damage.
My suggestion is a secondary calculation for knockback.

Current system, if an attack is blocked, that's all that there is to it. It doesn't matter how powerful the attack is, or how large the creature attacking is compared with the defender.

I suggest unlinking knockback in order that attacks which would normally cause knockback if they were not blocked would still cause knockback.
This could be achieved by running a second calculation directly after the attack is rolled.
Duplicate the attack roll against the toughness of the defender, ignoring all block. Use this as the knockback calculation.

The benefits of this are:
Being hit by something the size of a VW beetle will now send a human flying, even if he is protected by his armour.
Easier to adjust knockback extent.
Can have tags for weapons which adjust the amount of knockback.


In addition to the obvious effects, it would now be possible to have creatures with massively high damblock, in effect, gods, fist fighting without doing any real damage, but sending each other flying nonetheless.
Just like in the superhero comics. 


I'm interested on the community's thoughts on this suggestion.

[bartavelle]

Sounds like a very good idea to me. It might be useful to have a vertical component to knockback : huge creatures would stamp you on the floor while small strong creatures might send you up.

[Captain Mayday]

Well, you would need a fairly large divisor so that they wouldn't go up more than a few levels unless we were talking about insanely powerful hits

[Granite26]

It would make large creatures a lot more scary if they got to roll damage twice.  (Once on hit, twice on hitting the wall)

Plus it would look awesome to see a dwarf flung away from the fight, roll a few times (sic), get up, and run back in.

This seems like it would fit well with the intended dragon improvements (picking things up and dropping them).  Anyway, it adds 'throw' as a verb that means 'zero damage, high knockback'.  (zero damage on the throw... what happens when they land in lava, smack in the wall, or get thrown off a cliff is another story)

I like it

[Captain Mayday]

It would make large creatures a lot more scary if they got to roll damage twice.  (Once on hit, twice on hitting the wall)

That already happens. The only difference here is that you'd be knocked back more often by big creatures.

You would actually have to adapt your fighting style for large creatures to dodge away, instead of block.

[Draco18s]

(...what happens when they land in lava, smack in the wall, or get thrown off a cliff is another story)

I like it

Reminds me of both an Order of the Stick comic (the half-ogre that kept moving back 10 feet every round until it fell off a cliff) and D&D 4E's fighter's shield bash ability (pushes opponents around, potentially into dangerous terrain).

[perilisk]

Seems like knockback would actually be more likely if an attack is blocked; if a spear hits you and isn't blocked, it runs you through. If it's blocked by your armor, it's basically the equivalent of a weak blunt attack across the entire affected armor surface, if I properly understand how armor works.

[Granite26]

It would make large creatures a lot more scary if they got to roll damage twice.  (Once on hit, twice on hitting the wall)

That already happens. The only difference here is that you'd be knocked back more often by big creatures.

I've never seen one of my dwarves survive a knockback attack...

[Skizelo]

Seems like knockback would actually be more likely if an attack is blocked; if a spear hits you and isn't blocked, it runs you through. If it's blocked by your armor, it's basically the equivalent of a weak blunt attack across the entire affected armor surface, if I properly understand how armor works.

So a blocked attack of any stripe (bludgeon/piercing/slashing/gore) turns into a weaker bludgeon attack? You could then add another stat to weapons about the efficiency of the conversion (whips would be terrible, hammers quite good). And some weapons (spears especially) would have a chance to bend and shields could buckle against impressive hits...
I get way to excited about tweaks to combat. What can I say?

ALSO, to bartavelle about adding Z-levels, I have nothing to say except "look at meeee". Ah, narcissism.

[Tahin]

I like this. It would make big creatures that much scarier.

[Footkerchief]

So a blocked attack of any stripe (bludgeon/piercing/slashing/gore) turns into a weaker bludgeon attack? You could then add another stat to weapons about the efficiency of the conversion (whips would be terrible, hammers quite good).

Oh damn, this is a neat idea.  I really like that it would reflect the real-life tendency of maces, etc to break limbs through plate armor.

[Granite26]

Oh damn, this is a neat idea.  I really like that it would reflect the real-life tendency of maces, etc to break limbs through plate armor.

I seem to remember reading that medieval type swords were less cutting tools than they were big heavy maces that brought all the crushing weight to bear on a very small area.

[Footkerchief]

I seem to remember reading that medieval type swords were less cutting tools than they were big heavy maces that brought all the crushing weight to bear on a very small area.

Yeah, sheer mass would be a good determinant of how much bludgeoning damage a blocked hit would do, except it doesn't take materials into account -- steel and especially adamantine are much lighter than iron, but they shouldn't do less bludgeoning damage.

[Fishersalwaysdie]

Shouldn't they?

If they are lighter I do not see how it can do more bludgeoning damage.

[Techhead]

They are also harder and stronger.