Thoughts about fixing Exalted grappling
Grappling rules are one of those legendarily awful parts of nearly any RPG, usually because the rules are incredibly complex in a way that no other part of combat is, as was the case in earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons, like the "Punching & Wrestling Chart" from AD&D 2e.
Huh. I just realized that "no other part of combat" link is probably what Dwarf Fortress grappling would like it if it were played out at the table.
In Exalted, grappling's major problem is that it's binary. It's a simple roll-off, and then winner can either throw the target away, or they can do all of the following:
Well, I was reading my RSS feeds a couple weeks ago and came across this post from Dungeon Fantastic about using GURPS Technical Grappling in their game. And while I haven't read through all of Technical Grappling because it's 54 pages long--and I'm not sure if that's a bigger strike against GURPS or against grappling rules--the basic concept of Control Points are laid out in the blog post.
It seems like it's even easier to implement this with Exalted dice pool system. Each success is a Control Point, you need a certain number to do things. Rather than DV instantly dropping to zero if someone puts their hand on a PC's upper arm, it could go down in a more gradual fashion--maybe 1 point per two CP, and reduce movement rate by the same amount? Similarly, cap raw damage done by the amount of CP the opponent has, so grabbing someone and ripping them in half is still possible but isn't likely without the clincher solidifying their hold, unless the clincher is a tyrant lizard. Finally, make it so the target isn't Inactive until the CP on them is greater than their total (Strength/Dexterity) + Martial Arts + Specialty pool, and even then they can still try to escape.
This does a lot of things. It means PCs can keep acting until they're totally overwhelmed, it means that weak PCs can progressively overcome even powerful clinchers as long as they have friends keeping it from focusing on the grapple, and it means that being grabbed no longer introduces a, "whelp, time to make a new character" reaction.
This probably interacts weirdly with Charms and to be really developed I'd want to go check out those interactions, but since I'm going to be using this for mortals I don't care! I still need to work out how this interacts with multiple actions ( not flurries. No flurries), but that can come with testing.
This does mean I need to finish those Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom enemies, though. I should get on that.
Huh. I just realized that "no other part of combat" link is probably what Dwarf Fortress grappling would like it if it were played out at the table.
In Exalted, grappling's major problem is that it's binary. It's a simple roll-off, and then winner can either throw the target away, or they can do all of the following:
- Render the target Inactive, reducing their DV to zero.
- Prevent the target from taking any other actions other than trying to break or take control of the grapple.
- Do damage to the target.
Well, I was reading my RSS feeds a couple weeks ago and came across this post from Dungeon Fantastic about using GURPS Technical Grappling in their game. And while I haven't read through all of Technical Grappling because it's 54 pages long--and I'm not sure if that's a bigger strike against GURPS or against grappling rules--the basic concept of Control Points are laid out in the blog post.
It seems like it's even easier to implement this with Exalted dice pool system. Each success is a Control Point, you need a certain number to do things. Rather than DV instantly dropping to zero if someone puts their hand on a PC's upper arm, it could go down in a more gradual fashion--maybe 1 point per two CP, and reduce movement rate by the same amount? Similarly, cap raw damage done by the amount of CP the opponent has, so grabbing someone and ripping them in half is still possible but isn't likely without the clincher solidifying their hold, unless the clincher is a tyrant lizard. Finally, make it so the target isn't Inactive until the CP on them is greater than their total (Strength/Dexterity) + Martial Arts + Specialty pool, and even then they can still try to escape.
This does a lot of things. It means PCs can keep acting until they're totally overwhelmed, it means that weak PCs can progressively overcome even powerful clinchers as long as they have friends keeping it from focusing on the grapple, and it means that being grabbed no longer introduces a, "whelp, time to make a new character" reaction.
This probably interacts weirdly with Charms and to be really developed I'd want to go check out those interactions, but since I'm going to be using this for mortals I don't care! I still need to work out how this interacts with multiple actions ( not flurries. No flurries), but that can come with testing.
This does mean I need to finish those Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom enemies, though. I should get on that.