This is the ability to administer first aid and bind wounds. A successful roll will Stabilize a Dying character and restores a number of lost Vitality Points equal to the X-Roll. Using this skill to restore Vitality is only effective once per wounding. Provided one is conscious, it is possible to use this skill on oneself, but the difficulty is MTN 10.
When to Roll And Difficulty
There are five levels of Difficulty used for resolving die rolls: No Roll, Roll, MTN 10, MTN 15, and Crit.
Each sets a level of Difficulty that will effect how the task is resolved in comparison to the character’s Target Number. Use the following guidelines when determining which Difficulty to use for any particular die roll.
Difficulty When To Use No Roll Don’t roll if the task is easy or impossible. Roll If the task has a moderate chance of failure. This is the default Difficulty, where the character needs only roll TN or less to succeed. MTN 10 If the average person would fail. In this case, the character must not only succeed, but also do so with a die roll of 10 or higher. MTN 15 If practically everyone would fail. In this case, the character must not only succeed, but also do so with a die roll of 15 or higher. Crit If failure is almost assured, but dumb luck could apply. The character can only succeed if he rolls his TN exactly.
Minimum Target Number
Minimum Target Number (MTN) represents a difficult task where only the most skilled can succeed. If the character’s TN (after modifiers) is less than the MTN, he has zero chance of success and doesn’t even get to roll, unless the Difficulty also involves a Crit.
As noted in the table above, to succeed when dealing with a MTN, the result of the die not only has to fall within the TN, but also has to meet or exceed the value set by the MTN.
I'll go ahead and post my question here, since you asked so nicely. ;)
This is the right place :)
Reading through the rules, I noticed that a lot of special combat maneuvers (such as choke, disarm and pin) are MTN 10 actions. That means, if I understand it correctly, that unless the character's Total Value for the appropriate combat skill is higher than 10, he has basically a 5% chance of pulling it off.
This is correct (as the Called Shots/Grapple Maneuvers (Clarification) (http://www.bountyheadbebop.com/forum/index.php?topic=259.msg3815#msg3815) points out.
My concern over this is that it seems to discourage creativity in combat. Why bother kicking or shooting the goon's gun out of his hand? It's easier and more effective to just punch him or riddle him with holes. But the former is cooler and more appealing from a story point of view.
It might present a problem in a less anime-style system, but the way BHB handles it not only encourages such action, but also provides a way for PCs to pull it off. I'll explain further below –
To give you a specific scenario as an example: our heroes are attempting to infiltrate a crime boss's hideout. A sentry stands guard outside.
In your standard movie or comic, the goon would be quickly dispatched by grabbing him in a chokehold and bringing him down. But unless one of the characters is a Bruce Lee clone walking round with a 15 or higher Grapple rating, that would be downright stupid in the game. So all of a sudden, the rules get in the way of the story.
I suppose the player could burn a Luck point to lower his MTN but that would be using a very limited resource to achieve what is really an incidental encounter. (I'm assuming players do not get additional Luck points during the session).
Do you see my problem? :-\
The nice thing about Luck Points is they pretty much let a character succeed at what they need to (if it is important enough to the character to spend Luck on in the first place).
And actually, in addition to Luck Points being refreshed at the start of each game session, Temporary Luck Points can be earned during a session for doing something cool (see Experience/Other Rewards section). So spending Luck Points can actually earn you Luck Points :)
There are other considerations as well. For example, in your standard movie or comic, protagonists that perform such maneuvers are usually pretty bad-ass, which beginning (key here is beginning) BHB characters are not (yet). Add a few Edges however and a Luck Point or two and suddenly things are different. Check out the Grapple Master Edge (http://www.bountyheadbebop.com/forum/index.php?topic=241.msg3181#msg3181) and see if it doesn’t dramatically change the above scenario.
It also helps in the above scenario (and a second printing of the rules will address this) that I encourage GMs to let all Luck Points (including for lowering an MTN) to be spent retroactively; so you don’t waste your Luck Points on failed rolls.
Currently, the rules read that you need to declare a Luck Points for lowering an MTN before the roll, but this is a misnomer, originally intended to mean that if you can’t roll because your TN is too low (and a Crit is not a factor in the Difficulty – as that lets anyone roll) then you would have to spend the Luck Point first to lower the MTN to a point that allowed you to roll against it in the first place. Confusing right? It is simply easier and cooler to just let them roll and see if, after the fact, a Luck Point will have any impact on the outcome. (Easier to explain too.)
Overall, I think the balance in BHB between letting the characters do cool stunts now and then and keeping every schoolmarm on the street from TPK’ing the entire group with a handbag full of tissue papers and yarn, is pretty darn slick 8)
Hope this helps :)
BZ
Weapon | Acc | Dmg | Rng | Cap | Rate | Avail | Cost |
Tasing Gun | | -1 | | ♠ | | 40’ Max | | 2i | | ST | | M10(R-P)/2w | | 4500 |