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Skjaldbakka
2007-04-17, 05:28 AM
I have been participating in NERO (http://www.nerolarp.com) lately, and praticing with different weapon styles, and the thought occured to me that the rules for crouching are backwards. A crouching combatant has a +2 AC vs. ranged, and a -2 AC vs. melee. However, the more effective melee weapon styles that I have been experimenting with are low crouched stances(because you reduce your profile and can better protect your body with sword and/or shield). Furthermore, being in a crouch makes it harder to quickly move out of the way of a thrown weapon attack.

Just a random thought I wanted to share.

Hazkali
2007-04-17, 05:54 AM
Hmm, interesting. I think the rules were written from completely the opposite perspective, that crouching down puts you at a disadvantage when attacked by someone who is above you, and reduces your profile for a ranged attacker. Bothe of these are intuitive.

Whilst this fighting style may work in LARP, crouching down lowers and protrudes the head, and lowers the field of vision, increasing its vulnerability, hence the reason it isn't a widely used style.

If you want to change it in your games, then feel free.

daggaz
2007-04-17, 06:12 AM
Yeah... I would say definitely, unless you are planning on entering a grapple really quick, then full crouching is a very bad idea in combat as a fighting stance. Especially if your opponent is armed. Not only do you expose your head and limit your ability to move as mentioned before, you effectively pin your legs and will be unable to use them without either using your arms for support (pinning one or two) or undergoing some seriously intensive training.

Matthew
2007-04-17, 04:27 PM
Hmmn. Actually, there is a lot of support for the idea that the Roman Legionary's usual Fighting Stance was 'crouched'. Personally, I'm not a proponent of this view, but there you go. As for mechanics in D&D, I think things are fine the way they are.

SpiderBrigade
2007-04-17, 04:56 PM
Well, I'd say there's a lot of room for interpretation on the question of what is meant by "crouched." Keeping some bend in the knees, so as to be ready to spring in any direction, a sort of boxer's stance, is probably a good idea. Is that "crouched?" I suspect that the use in the actual rules is something more extreme, putting your head at about waist level. That doesn't sound like it would usually work too well in a fight.

asqwasqw
2007-04-17, 06:43 PM
Hmmn. Actually, there is a lot of support for the idea that the Roman Legionary's usual Fighting Stance was 'crouched'. Personally, I'm not a proponent of this view, but there you go. As for mechanics in D&D, I think things are fine the way they are.

I thought they were hunched, not crouched. And if by crouched you mean sitting at less than half your height, that does put you somewhat at a disadvantage in melee. When was the last time you've seen a crouched fighter (spring attacking from the bushes does not count)?

Indon
2007-04-17, 08:03 PM
Well, crouching doesn't seem that bad, if you have a shield and especially if you're in a formation with spears at your back.

It's also quite good for ranged attacks, provided you're using a weapon you can fire in a lower-profile position.

But other than that, the benefits of crouching seem limited.

Tellah
2007-04-17, 08:33 PM
Does NERO discourage head shots? Amtgard, the only LARP I've played, doesn't count shots to the head or neck at all, so a lot of fighting styles there center around keeping your head and arms forward and your body back, often by hunkering down a bit.

Matthew
2007-04-17, 08:51 PM
I thought they were hunched, not crouched. And if by crouched you mean sitting at less than half your height, that does put you somewhat at a disadvantage in melee. When was the last time you've seen a crouched fighter (spring attacking from the bushes does not count)?
Well, we're playing with semantics now and that's why I wrote 'crouched', rather than crouched (I mean, what's the definition of 'hunched', anyway?). There are all sorts of theories about it, but I am yet to see one that was actually completely convincing.

Skjaldbakka
2007-04-19, 01:59 AM
Nero does discourage headshots, but there is still the natural instinct to not want to get hit in the head. I wasn't wanting to suggest a change really, it was more of a 'food for thought' kind of thing.