A few weeks ago, I was making a character for a new Savage Worlds campaign and putting together my gear list. I don’t mind the accounting, but the precision bothers me a bit.
The rules stated that I could carry 60 lbs. of gear before suffering encumbrance penalties. Naturally, I went up exactly to that limit (I that’s because I ignored the weight of my cash). Both the weights of the various pieces of gear and the strength-based encumbrance limits are a bit made-up and the limits artificial. There’s something to be said for a system that’s a bit “squishy” and doesn’t count every ounce.
The other trend in modern games is just assuming that the PCs have the gear they need. Rather than have a detailed equipment list, you note the big ticket items like weapons and armor but other gear can be assumed at the time they’re needed rather than having had to be listed on the character sheet ahead of time. If there is question or debate, you could even resolve the question of “Do I have the gear I need at this moment?” to a die roll.
That’s the approach I tend to use. I know that a lot of the early dungeoneering games were about detailed resource management, but I’m more interested in more real-world situations (that may suddenly turn very very stressful). One of my rules of thumb is that if I have it in my house the PCs can probably have it on their spaceship. (IR thermometer, for example.)
Try Aftermath (old FGU game) - It shows why Bruce Willis just wore a vest in Die Hard - he couldn’t afford the encumberance of a shirt… (encumberance values go down to decimals - 2 places, IIRC )
The vital thing about AFTERMATH is to remember to buy a ‘cup’ for your genitals.
It has a separate hit location for that area and you just know it’s going to replace the ‘hit the left leg’ result that RQ has for the place hit more often than pure chance would inicate.
If we’re going to do hit locations, there should be different charts for ranged attacks vs. hand-to-hand attacks and the latter will depend on the relative handedness of the combatants, their weapons and their reach, the use of shields, etc. If I’m right-handed swinging a sword at an opponent, I would surely hit their left leg more often than their right, unless their right leg was also their lead leg…
And is your target doing line of battle sword and shield (fairly face on), fencing (weapon arm to the front) or spear and shield (shield arm to the front)?
Encumbrance - this has largely fallen out of use in computer games, except in survival horror games. Sadly real life is a survival horror experience.
Having tried moving quickly across a re-enactment battlefield in costume, by 'eck it’s hard work.
As for endurance/morale mechanics, I note Wrath & Glory (the latest Warhammer 40k RPG) separates wounds and shock, and has characteristics you roll against to see if you take shock from demoralising things. The battleground of the 41st millenium demands some consideration is taken of these things.
In the recreationist fights I’ve seen the shield is always forward when you’ve got one. You normally wield a sword by swinging it and do so around the shield you’re keeping between you and your opponent.
But yeah, adding another factor to the choices the player must make (let’s call it ‘stance’ because I think I’ve seen it called that in games rules once) makes for higher geekish satisfaction and slower speed.
My experience of sword and shield is not just that you keep the shield in front, but that its held out in front to maximise distance between you and the opponent.
The only time you’re holding the shield close in is if you have two shield walls clashing and then you bring it in against your body so you can properly lean in to the ruck.
Second line can reach over and do stabby-stabby. Front lines job is to hold.
That reminds me of simpler times, a long, long time ago, when the PCs were heroic mortals, not movers or shakers who had looted the treasury of a fallen empire and the hoards of more than one dragon.
Back in those simpler days, the main warrior of the PC performed his military service for the city-state he adopted as his home. He fought orcs on several occasions, where shield wall met shield wall, at least if the orcs did not have enough archers to force the humans to retreat and the humans did not have enough magic to do the same to the orcs.
It was pure misery for an Overconfident PC to have to maintain close order in a shield wall, not step forward and not try to break the enemy shield wall. He even used a long dagger to stab under his shield, trying to get under the hauberks of the orcs facing him, maybe sever the femoral artery if he got lucky.
He resisted as long as he could, but eventually, he managed to get a decent number of his fellow warriors to form a boar’s head formation, with him at the forefront. He muscled through the first two orcs with pure momentum, behind his shield, and then set to hacking and slashing orcs down once he was through the shield wall.
Those were good times. Even if the PC will try to get the sons of those orcs to fight under his banner, after allying with an orcish Prince-Who-Was-Promised, i.e. the son of a successful warlord who is being pushed by priests, seers and his father to fulfil a prophecy to restore the ancient orc kingdom of Vastar.