How much M.D.C. is too much?
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Iron Sorcerer
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How much M.D.C. is too much?
I'm working on a powerful creature that the Coalition States have to send an expedition against to exterminate, my question is how much M.D.C. is too much? I want it to be powerful enough to last more than a few rounds against SAMAS airstrikes.
Re: How much M.D.C. is too much?
I don't have the stats for a samas in front of me, but basically, figure out what the average damage your assault squad will do per attack, and extrapolate out from there.
If they're shooting 1d4x10 weapons, they should average about 25 damage per attack, per samas. if they have 6 attacks, or whatever, that's 6x25 or 150 MDC per samas, per melee.
If you have a squad of 4 then they're going to deal, on average, 600 MDC per melee, but modified down for misses, which should work out to about 20% of attacks, so call it 480 MDC. so if you want it to last 4 melees, give it a little less than 2000 MDC.
Also, don't be afraid to just fudge it. If you want it to last ~4 melees, wait till the end of the first melee, figure out how much damage they did, and multiply that by the number of melees you want it to last.
The more salient question is how much MD should the creature deal? How many samas are you planning to destroy in this fight? adjust damage such that the creature should deal that much damage, on average, for the number of melees you intend for it to last.
Don't forget to factor in mini-missiles!
If they're shooting 1d4x10 weapons, they should average about 25 damage per attack, per samas. if they have 6 attacks, or whatever, that's 6x25 or 150 MDC per samas, per melee.
If you have a squad of 4 then they're going to deal, on average, 600 MDC per melee, but modified down for misses, which should work out to about 20% of attacks, so call it 480 MDC. so if you want it to last 4 melees, give it a little less than 2000 MDC.
Also, don't be afraid to just fudge it. If you want it to last ~4 melees, wait till the end of the first melee, figure out how much damage they did, and multiply that by the number of melees you want it to last.
The more salient question is how much MD should the creature deal? How many samas are you planning to destroy in this fight? adjust damage such that the creature should deal that much damage, on average, for the number of melees you intend for it to last.
Don't forget to factor in mini-missiles!
Re: How much M.D.C. is too much?
drazool wrote:The more salient question is how much MD should the creature deal? How many samas are you planning to destroy in this fight? adjust damage such that the creature should deal that much damage, on average, for the number of melees you intend for it to last.
Don't forget to factor in mini-missiles!
this should actually say, adjust damage so that the creature will deal the amount of damage you intend it to over the course of the combat.
If you're expecting the creature to last a full minute, and it has 5 attacks per melee, it should average 1/20th of your damage 'target' per attack
Re: How much M.D.C. is too much?
Just make sure that it is less MDC than Nxla and you should be good.
Edit: Wait, I misread that post. Define "expedition." Depending on what that means, Nxla might be about right.
Edit: Wait, I misread that post. Define "expedition." Depending on what that means, Nxla might be about right.
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Mack
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Re: How much M.D.C. is too much?
Instead of just straight MDC, consider giving it a few special abilities.
+ Self heal 30% of it's max MDC, can be used once per round, 3 uses per day.
+ A natural ability equivalent to Armor of Ithan. (Or better, Armor Bizarre with its Horror Factor.)
+ Short range teleport... just enough to mess up the Sam's attack and make them regroup and re-attack.
+ Mirror Images of itself (or other illusions) forcing the Sam's to figure out which is real.
You get the idea.
+ Self heal 30% of it's max MDC, can be used once per round, 3 uses per day.
+ A natural ability equivalent to Armor of Ithan. (Or better, Armor Bizarre with its Horror Factor.)
+ Short range teleport... just enough to mess up the Sam's attack and make them regroup and re-attack.
+ Mirror Images of itself (or other illusions) forcing the Sam's to figure out which is real.
You get the idea.
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eliakon
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Re: How much M.D.C. is too much?
There are a few Rifts Kaiju in the Rifter #64. The Eldritch Spider of the Devils Tower, the Philly Brood Gulper, Sauradon, and the Nayk Star Spider all make great threats for the CS to send a task force after. Pretty much everything but the Quiserraica is useful as is. The Quiserraica is pretty risky to use in a game as it can easily turn into the end of the world.
The rules are not a bludgeon with which to hammer a character into a game. They are a guide to how a group of friends can get together to weave a collective story that entertains everyone involved. We forget that at our peril.
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Re: How much M.D.C. is too much?
The CS can eventually kill any amount of MDC, so long as they can inflict damage faster than it heals.
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ShadowLogan
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Re: How much M.D.C. is too much?
Iron Sorcerer wrote:I'm working on a powerful creature that the Coalition States have to send an expedition against to exterminate, my question is how much M.D.C. is too much? I want it to be powerful enough to last more than a few rounds against SAMAS airstrikes.
Well that really depends on the size and composition of the task force they send. A 10 man Infantry unit on foot is going to be a different level of powerful than say 4 Sky Cycles or UAR-1 Enforcers, or even a Dog-pack of similar size.
It probably also depends on the creatures abilities (natural or via power) which could include resistance (or vulnerabilities) to attacks of certain nature. Ex. A creature impervious (no damage) or resistant (1/# damage) to physical attacks (which include railguns) will be able to have a lower MDC than one without, especially if the task force will be relying on that type of attack to do damage (due to poor intelligence?, intentional, negligence, etc if the task force survives they could be asking these questions for a side quest).
Something with a lot of actions could also (auto-?) dodge attacks or attempt to parry (with other objects or parts of its body that means attacks don't go to the main body). With a high enough bonus this could reduce the MDC needed.