Re: [HOE] Massive Damage ... lookin for a good discussion ... [PEG] [Hopler]

[LoopyJason@aol.com]

Steve Crow:
<This is doable, but if Boise Horror is any example, it is _not_ the way Pinnacle itself does it.  PC armor is in the low range (rarely better than AV2, although factors like Force Field and the Templar gift and other stuff can help those particular characters).>

Actually, this is the way we do it!  Rules-wise, at least.  (Quick intro:  I've been playing HOE since the first playtesting campaign with Hop, and have been lurkin' on here for awhile.  Lovin' it!)

We use those massive damage rules because they encourage us players to avoid explosions. (Fire Bad!) It is a lot of dice rolling, but John is good about only using 'em when it's relevant.  It doesn't take too many rocket launcher shots at targets 50 feet away before you learn to put that thing down, and save it for the 200 yard ambush shots.

Boise Horror was tough on us, but we used our heads, rather than a headlong charge.  (That's code for: we blew up a raptor, and then ran away.  In the next to last battle, we didn't suicide into them when they were running off with Simon.)
I think the key thing to remember, for players and GMs, is to always use your head.  Getting close to an automaton is not using your head.

If players, and GMs, think tactically, instead of MIRVing right away, they'll do better. Stay creative! Bad guys should ambush and run away.  Our party's biggest trouble has been when we made some poor decisions, and got ambushed and split up by a Black Hat patrol when we were house-to house searching.  I mean, c'mon, there's no character that will survive 3-4 black hats going full auto on him from 10 feet away.  And if that's only a warm-up...

Snipers are great, too!  Especially if they only take a couple shots, soak up some chips, and then split.  If you do that a couple times, the party will be so distracted by the shadows, they'll totally lose it when your abomination attacks!

Sorry for the long rant, but if you can encourage the party to make some poor tactical decisions, someone will die. Maybe even the harrowed cyborg super soldier templar greenie.  :)

Jason.