Icon System combat- unbalanced?

[erhershman]

I occasionally get frustrated with the Icon combat system. It seems like my players either miss by a mile or suceed dramatically every time- mostly fail, though.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to balance the system or have any house rules concerning this?

[Dan Gurden]

Is that hand to hand, or energy weapon combat?

The ICON system seems ridiculously easy to hit at close(ish) range... It makes speed and cover all the more important...

But on the whole if your players are having problems winning combat then send them in with Phasers on Stun, knock em down and change the combat from hand to hand to mental, as your players get to interrogate and manage the masses of prisoners...

Any help?

[Lancer]

If it's phaser combat at close range you are talking about then go in with phaser ste to wide-angle heavy-stun.
If you fire at 3 or 4 opponents at the same time you should be able to hit at least someone.

[Keeper]

My players found the ICON system to be incredibly lethal in all respects, but frankly, they liked it. We all felt that a lethal combat system was appropriate because, well, combat IS lethal, nasty, brutish, and short. Of course, not everyone is looking for a simulation of realism.

An easy fix for you might be to simply add 2 or 3 to all the diffuculty numbers as they are presented. Thus ROUTINE would become 5,6,7 and MODERATE 8,9,10 as an example.

[tonyg]

Sounds like people aren't doing anything to defend themselves. Realistically, hitting someone at 5 meters who's stainding out in the middle of a plain or hallway is rediculously easy. Hitting someone who is zig-zagging around trees and rocks is challenging.

Character should be doding and using cover, unless they are suicidal or just don't know they are in danger. This applies to NPCs as well as PCs. You should find that cover and dodging will kick up the difficulties to the "balanced" difficulty level.

[Don Mappin]

You ought to read this thread. We've gone over this before.

http://forum.trekrpg.net/showthread....ht=icon+lethal

Again, my opinion is that the system is fine. I see a lot of people missing the defensive options in Icon. If you just stand there trading shots then I have an expectation of high body counts.

[tonyg]

Don,

I think two two topics are related but different. Look like the topic here is about the difficulty of hitting as opposed to the effects on being hit.

I agree with you on what to expect if the characters just stand there trading phaser fire.

[erhershman]

Then again, this isn't much of a problem if your players all blow their experience points on jacking up their coordination...