My players have the idea that if they're engaged in combat and near each other that they can fight AND assist every single round. Is this true?

jh

Emirikol said:

If they have no other reason to use their Manoeuvre or Action for other things then, by the RAW, yes. However, a GM may set sensible limits on the use of Assist, even if it is just make things narratively appropriate.

On saying that, if you combats aren't providing reasons for different uses of Manoeuvres and Actions, you may want to look at spicing things up a bit. For example, make movement necessary due to an environmental condition, have Skill based objectives, have foes capable of Entangling PCs.

Yeah, you can assist every round.

I'm going to ask my players to describe how they're assisting the other character and award fortune points based on their answers. I won't automatically give fortune points for every kind of assist, and I'll stop awarding them entirely if the players are simply assisting because they can't think of anything else to do with their maneuvers.

If it really becomes a problem, I'll look for ways to break up combat over larger areas so that the PCs aren't always engaged with one another.

One thing I always try to do with RPG combat is make sure that one side or the other has an objective other than wiping out the enemy force. I usually mention that there's some variety in the terrain, designating some aspect of the fight's setting as being "high ground" or "well protected" but keep this out of range of the start of the battle. This gives all of the participants some options and encourages movement. I think that sort of thing will cut down on the tendency for players to rely on assists, at least until they can all get together and really make a stand (in which case it's totally cool to assist each other).

Yes, the Assist manoeuvre is allowd in combat, but I require the assistance to be reasonable. The player needs to say how they are assisting the other character.

Deltabob said:

But isn't that a hassle to always remember who assists who, since the bonus die will appear later in the round (I'm thinking of the GM controlling multiple NPCs here..) ?

Also, if you combine this with the fortune/misfortune dice related to being outnumbered, doesn't that make being outnumbered the worst thing ever that can happen to you ?

Jericho said:

As GM I would probably aggregate the assist bonus with the outnumbered bonus for 1 Fortune Dice. Seems a sensible solution.

As I said in another thread, the existence of the Flanking Maneuver Talent card leads me to believe that you cannot Assist someone else in making a melee (or ranged) attack. The assist maneuver exists because not all encounters are combat encounters and not all checks being performed, even in a combat encounter, are attack actions. If you want to assist someone with breaking a door down while the rest of the party holds off a horde of Gobbos, that's one thing. Someone trying to climb up on top of a coach to gain advantage of ground and you're already up there and can lend a hand? Okay, add a [W] to the Climb (Athletics) check. If you want to "assist" someone with swinging their sword, I'm not allowing it and the justification of "well, I'm flanking" so I'm assisting his attack won't cut it since you need the Flanking Maneuver Talent to get that benefit. Just because Assist is listed as a possible maneuver doesn't mean it will be available and applicable in all situations. The Assist maneuver is not a license to pile on extra [W] to each others' attacks when you don't have any other use for you one free maneuver in a round just because you are both engaged with the same target. The advantage of ganging up on an opponent is already represented by the "outnumber" situational modifier.

Jericho said:

I wouldn't expect that to be a big problem. The players will remember, and they'll remind the GM.

Jericho said:

I'm interpreting the Assist maneuver to mean that some of the ways you can assist is to crowd your ally's opponent or create a distraction. You might also be trying to trip that opponent, or pin their arms back (as in a bar fight). So I don't think that the Assist maneuver is supposed to stack with combat advantages listed on page 60 of the rulebook.

A player shouldn't say, "With my maneuver this round, I'm going to Assist Bob's character." Unless it's totally obvious what sort of assistance is required, I'm going to expect players to elaborate on what their characters intend to do in order to help. It's a situational thing, and I expect that the following turn will build on those details, maybe taking the scene in a new direction, or giving the opponents something they might be able to take advantage of. Pinning back someone's arms means that your arms aren't free to defend yourself but I'm definitely going to add some fortune points to your buddy's roll to punch your captive in the gut. But when it comes time for some drunken NPC to take his turn and get into the brawl, he might get some fortune points to konk you on the head with a bottle.

I think that's how it's supposed to work.

mac40k said:

Mac40K Said the most sensible thing about this issue. Otherwise I am afraid that Assist maneuver would be a dumping place for all unused maneuvers during a combat round. Once engaged and in melee PCs seldom use their maneuvers anyway. And if you add that up with the flanking maneuver talent, potentially every PC could end up with 2 or more fortune [w] dice per dice roll.

Good gaming

I'm inclined to say that it doesn't give a bonus die unless the enemy is outnumbered, as they are doing the exact same thing.

I've got 5 players. It get's to be a headache.

jh