Demoralizing?

[NapalmKing]

I'm building some artillery positions with some lego dogs I got from target they are pretty simple and staffed by 3 clones 2 of which are unarmed. In order to protect the guns from being overrun I made some space marines who are basically armored commandos who guard the guns. What I was thinking of is that these marines would have guns that worked like normal rifles except that they would shred the bodies of their victims in a gruesome and demoralizing fashion discouraging others from charging.
Basically the gun would be 1d6+2 but if it killed the victim anyone within 1 inch would be splattered with gore and get a -1 to skill on their next roll. The reduction wouldn't apply to heroes pilots or soldiers who for one reason or another don't care, berserkers, immortals, robots ect

Does that sound good or stupid?

[IVhorseman]

-1 to skill is such a negligible penalty that you'll be forgetting about it all the time.

I think a better way would be to just make it a skill check: if something demoralizing happens, the minifig rolls their skill, and upon rolling a 1, they spend the next turn's movement and action rolling around on the floor crying. Now the whole "something demoralizing" clause is where this gets hazy, and is why I haven't bothered determining what exactly qualifies as such, but I think having a "scary" brand on weapons, like your marine's rifles might be the right way to go.

I'd also make it so that anyone who either was fired at and not killed was subject to this roll, in addition to those within an inch of a minifig who dies this way.

[NapalmKing]

The reason I was thinking about -1 is I want it to have an effect but not be crippling to the attackers.
Another idea that I didn't post is that it could be certain units have amounts of moral and if enough 'scary' things happen to them then they spend the next turns actions sprinting away.

[IVhorseman]

I think the whole issue revolves around what classifies as "scary" to a minifig. Being swung at with an axe or even having a missed rock thrown at your head could be "scary" in a real-world combat situation, but having a minifig fall down and cower at that would be pretty lame and not fun.

Instead of keeping track of a morale number, I'd just keep it to a dice roll. It's much easier to say "you rolled a 1! so this happens..." as opposed to "okay so I've whittled away four out of your five morale points so that means..."

Your -1 works great if it's an effect that you want to happen every time guys get splattered with blood, but it's probably not going to actually do a whole lot to change the game. My suggestion is much less likely to happen (only 1/6 chance for even normal figs), but with much more serious/hilarious consequences.



A similar rule I used to use with heavy machine guns was that if minifigs were fired at with automatic weapons over two or more turns, they would be "pinned down" and unable to move or take actions until the fire stopped, or they were yelled at by a hero or officer. The problem rose when the heroes and officers all died.

[stubby]

The reason I was thinking about -1 is I want it to have an effect but not be crippling to the attackers.
Another idea that I didn't post is that it could be certain units have amounts of moral and if enough 'scary' things happen to them then they spend the next turns actions sprinting away.

I think the best solution is to playtest these ideas.

For some reason everyone gets this idea at some point and no one can explain to them why it's a bad idea. Then they actually try it, and they realize what everyone else was trying to tell them, and then they go and try to tell the next guy who comes along who won't listen to them either.

But just setting up a quick battle and playtesting it will give you a very hands-on understanding of what it does to the game flow.

[Gungnir]

I think watching a Hero die might put some 'figs into "Oh shit" mode.

[IVhorseman]

It'd actually be a pretty good tradeoff for heroic vehicles and weapons to have when they eventually explode. I could see Lancelot and Gawain running the hell away if an assault helicopter shot Excalibur in two.

[Silverdream]

Why would Lancelot and Gawain run from a puny helicopter?