D6 & Lightsaber Fighting

Howdy

After years of playing d6 Star Wars RPG (to bad there won't be any more d6 Star Wars rpg products) I still have a problem when it comes to my favourite part of the Star Wars movies... Lightsaber dueling.


As it is now it is impossible to make long dramatic duels alá Vader vs. Luke or the 12 minutes fight between Anakin and Kenobi said to be in Episode III. If one of the Jedi / Sith fighting rolls just 1 better than the other he scores a hit (asuming he is attacking and not defending) and then the duel is over. The reason is that when two force users are dueling they are mostly using the Force Power Lightsaber Combat. That boosts the damage done by the saber so much that one hit by a lightsaber almost surely means instant death.


Do any of you d6 players have the same problem or understand the problem? If you do, do youb then have a suggestion or idea about what to do?

 

Well, there's always "Absorb/reflect energy". that's a handy power, and a good way to calm down those jedi players in a hurry to duel.
To be honest, few of my jedi players ever got above 6d in force skills/powers. Usually they fell to the dark side or just didn't have what it took to stick to the code. That's assuming they didn't just get killed.

Also, using the Force to cause excessive damage is a dark side point. If you can survive the encounter by just incapacitating the opponent, or rendering it unconscious, then that is what you should be doing unless the person you are fighting is irredeamablly evil. Throwing 11d damage on an imp officer or a bounty hunter who is just blocking your way to an escape ship is inexcusable.

Use the code.

Vader could have killed Luke at any time on Bespin. He was testing Luke to see what he'd learned and tempt him to the Dark Side. That's the only reason that fight dragged on. Look how long it took to deal with ObiWan--just a minute or so. (OK, extenuating circumstances...)

 

Actually, if they use lightsaber combat and take multiple attacks, the damage would go down as they take multiple attacks. You may add control to damage, but remember, each extra attack lowers everything by 1d. So I've seen players try for a flurry of shots (8d lightsaber, 8d sense, combat sense, force point, keep hacking like your name is Neo), and not really get much in the way of damage per hit, but damn were there alot of hits.
Personally, I've always ruled that a blocker gets bonuses to the base to hit, or can add his/her own lightsaber + sense to block. Though you have a point, combat does tend to be really fast.

 

I just use a GM screen. Don't cheat your players but fudge rolls from time to time for cinematic purposes. Also to remove the tedium of attack, parry, attack, parry etc. Try switching from rounds to scenes. Mid combat is always a good time to have the villian spill his guts about his diabolical plan. If combat is getting boring start a chase scene. Or have sabers get locked together and require opposed strength rolls to seperate giving the victor an advantage. This is also a good time for the NPC to sucker punch the PC. These are just a few things I use to make saber combat more interesting than opposed skill rolls.

 

Also, 13d to attack gets diminished quickly when you have to keep those other Force powers up. -2d for absorb/dissipate, -1d for control pain, -1d for accelerate healing, -2d for reduce injury (in case they need it), -1d for parrying: that's down to 6d for an attack that requires a 20 minimum to hit. Average roll of 6d is 21.

(Yes, I'm an evil GM and make players take those penalties into account during combat, IF] they want to benefit from having them right away).

Again, this hasn't come up often for me.

 

Also, 13d to attack gets diminished quickly when you have to keep those other Force powers up. -2d for absorb/dissipate, -1d for control pain, -1d for accelerate healing, -2d for reduce injury (in case they need it), -1d for parrying: that's down to 6d for an attack that requires a 20 minimum to hit. Average roll of 6d is 21.

Don't forget the -1D for already using Lightsaber Combat.