How do you do non-lethal combat if someone has a very high weapon skill? Imagine a famous knight like Lancelot or someone else, with (for example) a Sword skill of 40. He rolls a critical every time. So, following the rules of non-lethal combat, that means he inflicts damage every single time he rolls. So are people with very high weapon skills unable to participate in "non-lethal" combat, lest they necessarily end up wounding their opponent?

weather its in the rules or not, if a player states that there intention is to do non-lethal damage I allow it. It doesnt often matter that much. In a case where it REALLY matters you would have to do it case by case i guess. BUT..... If u strictly followed the rules then I guess you would be correct! I think that the higher a persons skill the better they are at pulling punches, lessen :Ping damage , etc..... its the guy with the low skill that is more out of control and thus less able to control his amount of damage! But thats just my take on it and doesnt reflect the actual written rules :P

I wouldn't worry about the damage muh. Most characters won't take much damage (since it isn7t doubled), and will only take a few points. To me, it makes sense that someone would get buised up a little, and a few low po9int hits are easily remedied with First Aid.


I do use the following houserule to increase the chances of knowckdowns in non lethal combat:

Roll and inflict damage as per the normal rules (inclduing doubling for crtical hits). Use the result for knockback, but halve it to see the actual damage inflicted.

Roll and inflict damage as per the normal rules (inclduing doubling for crtical hits). Use the result for knockback, but halve it to see the actual damage inflicted.


I use this same rule.

To echo the chorus, I wouldn't worry about it. Knights do expect to get hurt, battered, bloody - and in a tournament where they get into multiple duels, they do get worn down, sometimes getting too injured to continue just from those non-lethal attacks. The game system uses the term rebated, rather than non-lethal for a reason: they aren't non-lethal, they are less-lethal.
Also, if Lancelot has a 40 skill and criticals every time, he is still doing less damage than if he actually meant to hurt you, so for him, it is non-lethal damage. :)
If that worries you, think about a knight who does 8d6, 10d6, or even 12d6 damage (yes, previous editions of the game have stats where some knights do that kind of damage). Their normal hits, halved, are still going to mess up your day, and if they get a critical...
But they are still fighting 'for love', so if they kill you in such a fight, it's just an unfortunate accident.

IN previous editions, Gawain at high noon wielding Excalibur (assuming you go with the idea that the sword that Arthur gives Gawain is Excalibur) is probably the ultimate worst case scenario.

Some of those "slice the tops off of mountains" stories don7t seem so far-fetched with a guy potentially doing 48d6!.