Harmless dogs and chaining criticals?


#1

Hello everyone! I ran Dogs of Leadgrave this weekend and we ran into two minor hiccups that broke the immersion a bit with discussions. What are your thoughts on this?

1: How would you handle when the dogs only have 2D if the players’ speed roll is over 12? The problem is that I rolled tactics and got way to many 8’s and ended up with like 20+ dogs that were basically harmless and just a time consuming annoyance to the players. We still had fun with sone great fighting but the tension was just not there. I ruled that if I rolled 6+6 they would hit but it never happened.

2: When they finally got to the cave and encountered the Houndmaster with his dogs i rolled a speed of 4 (1+1+1+1) for the Houndmaster and 6 for the dogs. The first player started attacking and got four consecutive critical hits since the number to beat was 4… The second player did the same and he had gunslinger. He easily finished of the Houndmaster and all of the seven dogs even though I added on two more armor pieces on the Houndmaster in panic when the first player got in 11 hits in his first round. The other two players didn’t even get a single turn and the epic boss battle was anticlimactic to say the least. Is the chaining of crits a reccuring issue or is it just the result of a failed speed roll? I think it might be the case.


#2

4 1’s hahaha
well… always ignore a dumb tactics roll
I would simply explain: these dogs are sluggish and easiluy killed… they seem damaged or poorly made… star8 OWNED the Houndmaster? great… then the whole thing shouldve happened very very fast, which opens up whatever would happen next …

4 and 6 are some real bummer speed rolls, but I dont see anything broken here, just a leveling down of the entire encounter… freeing up time and teaching the flow for a challeneg to come after


#3

They went into it knowing that it was a new game for all of us and all in all we had an amazing time, they absolutely loved the setting and we blasted Black Sabbath, Judas priest and iron maiden all night long! The weak enemies really made them feel like badass death vikings fallen from space and the only human in the squad managed to roll mechanics and get the big dog in the lab to join as a companion with some lucky rolls. After leaving Leadgrave on bikes for rivet rock they were all pumped to play again so it was a success!


#4

Two quick thoughts on the dogs.

  1. Consider pack attacks! Have multiple dogs pile on, adding their dice together but still only doing 1 or 2 hits. If there are not that many, they are not that scary, but when they show up by the dozens, things get very real.

  2. There was a lengthy discussion about this at one point that ended on “remember these are goblins” these are the numerous but weak kind of baddies. Revel in wading through their masses! Cause when a forge walker shows up, the tone changes considerably.

Sounds like y’all had a great time! Can’t wait to see what Rivet Rock holds for your group.


#5

You could say that the back of dogs is really busted up and could be avoided or destroyed quickly and move on.
Of course, you want to make it sound cool as they rip and tear through these dogs (DOOM Music Intensifies).

If the enemy rolls poorly to start off with, AWESOME! The Gods were with the team!

It can and will happen the opposite way as well! Have the players be careful!


#6

So to report back to you regarding this:
In my SAMURAI DEATH SQUAD game, our Kuni Shugenja (spellcasting cleric type) rolled 3D on their SPEED and got 3. The enemy kept hitting them with Critical hits! Everyone then had to move to them and protect them as best they could, the big Crab warrior using DEFENDER skill to absorb the hits and sacrificing what little armor they had left. This caused my Crab Warrior to die in battle (first of two deaths)

But then, our Boar Spear-master went hard using their WEAPON SPECIALIST skill and using their Mai Chong spear and started hitting and consistently rolling 6 on each attack and Critically Hitting one enemy after another after another.

He had one tick on his first HERO SOUL (my replacement for Blood Rune) and ended up with two completed HERO SOULs before he was done with his Righteous Fury! The Kami smiled to my Samurai that day and he gained TWO HERO SOUL upgrades!


#7

I had the same issue with Dogs. Dogs OP but I ended up ignoring the tactics rolls after I kept rolling 8’s. I then did what JDH recommended. One dog does 2D for their attack so if its 2 dogs I just made it 3D, 3 dogs 4D, 4 dogs 5D, etc. That way it has that swarm effect and dogs don’t just become useless if someone in the group has a killer Speed stat (High Speed is so powerful OMG).