[TML] Which combat system do you prefer?

[Richard Aiken]

On Tue, Jun 17, 2008 at 5:38 PM, Leon Wu <Leon.Wu at newswire.ca> wrote:
>> The worst transgressor
>> against this (other than standard D20) was T2K, where I
>> discovered that I needed an antitank weapon to get this
>> result.  So with that one I chucked the whole thing and used
>> GURPS instead, with the T2K material as the mileau.
>
> Maybe in 2nd ed T2K but I remember playing 1st ed and being terrorized
> by a sniper that was picking us off.

He may have been picking off the NPCs, but T2K was deliberately
designed to make PCs invulnerable to casual death.  According to
Loren, PCs in that game were only supposed to die for important
reasons.  This is a valid sentiment, one I heartily endorse.  But I
don't think it should be reflected by tweaking a combat system to make
PCs special.  Combat should be deadly, such that getting involved in
it becomes a vital climatic moment in the game.  If you make PCs
invulnerable according to the rules, they begin to treat combat
casually and combat loses much of it's tension.

Of course, maybe your group lacked a rules lawyer to calculate the
(incredibly low) odds of PCs accidentally dying.  In which case, I
envy you!  :-)

-- 
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident." Robert A. Heinlein