21 November 2012

Rancor Medicine

Rancor
ST 30; DX 14; IQ 4; HT 14
Will 10; Per 10; Speed 7; Dodge 10;
Move 7.
SM +2; 3,600 lbs.

Traits: DR 12; Fangs; Talons; Wild Animal.
Skills:

I've chosen a Winchester Model 70 Safari in .458 Win-Mag as my weapon of choice for dropping a charging Rancor.  I have one in the pipe and three in the hole.  (Thag-Daddy's gonna make some ™Lucasfilm property turn col').

Assuming a Skill 14 and the Weapon Bond perk (+1 to Acc).  I have an effective skill of 15 with an unaimed shot, 20 with an aimed shot (Acc 5).  I get a +2 to hit because of its size modifier, so to hit it at all at 2 yards or less I have an adjusted skill of 17 unaimed and 22 after one turn of aiming.

A rancor has a move of 7.

Starting at 10 yards, it charges.  I aim for one second and the range is reduced to 3 yards (-1 to hit).

But where to aim?  It's big tough and fast.  With a health of 14 and 30 hit points I'll probably have to knock into auto-death (-5x HP) to actually stop it (180 points of damage total).

The rifle does 8d pi+.  That gives me 8-48 points of unmodified damage.  With a DR of 12; 1/4 of my shot is absorbed without doing damage on even a max-roll.  So I really have a potential of 0-36 points.  On average I should do 28 of raw damage.

However.

To hit the torso, there's no "to hit" modifier, so my aimed shot is still 21 or less.  Vitals are -3 to hit, so effective 18.  The skull is -7 so 14 or less and the eyes are -9 so 12.  The legs are -2, so an easy 19 to hit.

What's best?  Let's take them in order of easiest to hit.

Torso.  -0 to hit.  Gets the 1.5x damage after DR.  The average hit knocks the rancor to 6 HP which reduces its move by 1/2 (round up) to 4.  That's a major wound so there's a HT roll for the beast to avoid being stunned (14 or less...)

Leg.  -2 to hit.  No damage modifiers.  The average attack does 16 after armor BUT any damage over 1/2 HP is lost; so only 15 points of damage are sustained.  That limb is now crippled!  This is also a major wound, so HT roll to avoid stun is required.  With a crippled leg it's not moving at 7 any more; if it stays on its foot it will be hopping at 2.

Arm.  -2 to hit.  No damage modifiers.  The average attack does 16 after armor BUT any damage over 1/2 HP is lost; so only 15 points of damage are sustained.  That limb is now crippled!  This is also a major wound, so HT roll to avoid stun is required.  This will keep it from using the claws on that limb.

Vitals.  -3 to hit.  x3 damage after DR.  The average attack does 48 points of damage dropping our buddy to -18 HP.  This is a major wound like the preceding but the knockdown roll is at -5 or 9 or less. Also, there's a straight HT roll for it to avoid going unconscious every turn from now on.

Face.  -5 to hit.  Just like the torso except the HT roll to avoid knockdown is at -5.

Skull.  -7 to hit.  Gets +2 DR so only 14 points, on average, penetrates.  But those points are multiplied by 4 meaning 56 damage.  This reduces the HP to -26.  It's a major wound and the knockdown roll is at -10 (4 or less!).  Because HP are now negative, there's that roll every turn (14 or less) to keep from passing out.

Eye.  -9 to hit.  Like the skull, but there's no DR at all!  The full 28 points of the average shot penetrates to be multiplied by 4 dealing a whopping 112 points of damage; dropping its HP to -82.  This is your high risk, high yield attack.  HT-10 knockdown, HT consciousness and TWO HT rolls to avoid death. And because its HT is 14, on 3d6 it's almost assured to make those rolls.

On any of these if it fails its knockdown check it's going to need two turns to stand back up.

It will eventually fail a HT roll and lapse into la-la land, but it's probably going to maul you pretty good since the claws do 5d+2 cut and the teeth 3d-1 imp.

I think the winning strategy is to knock a leg out from under it.  It's a certain hit and slows it down so you can get far enough away to aim again.  From then on it's attrition.  This is also the winning strategy if it starts closer than 7 yards.

1 comment:

  1. What if you're not a big game hunter? Perhaps you're out hunting deer with your .30-06 when you run into this fictional horror.

    Such a weapon only gets 7d pi. An average damage roll will be 24 points.

    Torso. -0 to hit. No damage modifier after DR. The average hit only knocks the rancor to 18 HP which doesn't even slow it down! This isn't even considered a major wound.

    Leg. -2 to hit. No damage modifiers. The average attack does 12 after armor although any damage over 1/2 HP is lost; 12 is less than 15 so the limb is not even crippled by the shot.

    Arm. -2 to hit. No damage modifiers. Pretty much the same story as the leg.

    Vitals. -3 to hit. x3 damage after DR. The average attack does 36 points of damage dropping our buddy to -6 HP. This is a major wound! (Finally!) Knockdown roll is at -5 or 9 or less. Also, there's a straight HT roll for it to avoid going unconscious every turn from now on.

    Foot. -4 to hit. A location we didn't consider with the .458. With 12 points penetrating the thick hide, anything over 1/3 HP is lost, but the foot will be crippled by the average shot. Not a major wound, but it does keep it from outrunning you so you can put some distance between you and it.

    Face. -5 to hit. Just like the torso otherwise.

    Skull. -7 to hit. Gets +2 DR so only 10 points, on average, penetrates. But those points are multiplied by 4 meaning 40 damage. This reduces the HP to -10. It's a major wound and the knockdown roll is at -10 (4 or less!). Because HP are now negative, there's that roll every turn (14 or less) to keep from passing out.

    Eye. -9 to hit. Like the skull, but there's no DR at all! The full 24 points of the average shot penetrates to be multiplied by 4 dealing a whopping 96 points of damage; dropping its HP to -66. This is still your high risk, high yield attack. HT-10 knockdown, HT consciousness and TWO HT rolls to avoid death. And because its HT is 14, on 3d6 it's almost assured to make those rolls.

    With a lighter round like this you might want to take the eye shot. A 12 or less is a pretty decent chance and it's almost the only chance to stop it without being clawed up. Being able to do major wounds while crippling limbs is handy, and not generally an option for .30 calibers.

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