Hi,

I'm fairly new to the Pendragon rules as a GM but I'm trying to get to grips with the rules and this has me stumped.

Under defensive fighting KAP 5e Page 121 states

"Special: If a character using the defense tactic fights a character
using the berserk tactic, both still gain the +10 modifier
from their respective tactics, but combat is otherwise resolved
normally: If the defending character wins, he deals no damage."

However, berserk tactic involves unopposed rolls, so how can the defensive knight stop the unopposed berserk attack?

Am I reading this wrong?

Hi..

It means that if the Defensive tactic is used vs a Berserk attack the combat is resolved normally, ie, it returns to being an opposed resolution with both combatants gaining a +10 skill modifier. If the defender wins, he deals no damage.

Now whether you allow a knight to switch from a normal attack to a defensive one without penalty if he sees a Berserk coming his way is up to you...

Cheers. That makes a lot of sense.

you allow a knight to switch from a normal attack to a defensive one without penalty if he sees a Berserk coming his way is up to you...


I'd do something like get them to make an Awareness test - if successful then they can switch their declared intent without penalty, otherwise they take a penalty (-5 say, so their overall mod is a +5).

Of course if they are famously prudent or reckless then I'd rule that they get an autosuccess/autofail on that test.

Regards
Luke

This is an interesting one, hence my initial comment. I've often described the berserk (aka crazy) attack to my players as being like a huge overheard or roundhouse swing and thus fairly easy to detect, especially since the attacker goes last, suggesting it takes time to deliver. However, if I follow this logic through it makes perfect sense to allow a player to shift his stance to all out defend without penalty and I'm not sure I'm totally keen on that as IMHO the all out defend is *the* preferred choice vs. such an attack. The -5 penalty makes sense but I have a tough time telling my players to accept it considering how I've gone to such lengths explaining how easily seen a berserk attack is.

Rolling Awareness is an interesting idea, even though it does add more dice rolling to combat, something which I'm always looking to avoid. However, I like the trait idea even more and it's something I'll pay more attention to from now on

You guys may want to read through this (http://www.gspendragon.com/roundtable/index.php?topic=36.0) old thread. It touches on this discussion, and has some valid points, I think.

Ciao!

Thanks for the comments.

I had not thought too much about the 'changing the statement of intent' issue but there are some good points here.

Since a 'berserk' attack is effectivly an 'all out attack' and can be done by anyone at anytime, it may come a bit of a surprise.

I think to be fair to my players, the penalty for changing intent is useful, but I might also write down npc intent in advance and resolve as normal.