Ideas on how to challenge a cyber samurai

[Lao Tzume]

Hey all,

I've been running a game and one of my characters is a little tougher to deal with than the rest. He's a challenge because he is playing a Cyber Samurai. The problem is he gets bored when he plows through everything but then he gets upset when you throw tougher enemies at him to try and up the stakes.

I guess what I'm looking for is how you've dealt with this situation with Borgs. I've thought of EMP grenades, his weight being an issue at an inopportune time (falling through the floor, being the most appealing target etc) and things like that but I am trying to figure out a way that I'm doing it to not seem like I'm targeting him specifically but in a way it makes sense. This player is also sort of sensitive as well.

Hopefully you can see my challenge.

Any tips or ideas are much appreciated. Thank you!

[Svartalf]

bug him... if he can't take a tougher foe and gets bored by the less tough, he's the problem... have you tried a ninja who attacks at range and never stays in one place to be shot at or forced into melee?

[Lao Tzume]

Kiting him...good suggestion!

[Svartalf]

Also, do you run a one player game or a team game? maybe you need to force him into team work challenges.

[Alrik Vas]

This isn't a challenge of mechanics. This is the player's sensitivity. He doesn't want to be challenged, but he doesn't want it to look easy either. It's a maturity thing. Approach it from that angle and see what you can do.

[say652]

As a borg its THIS guys job to bang it out with things to tough for sdc beings in body armor.
Tell him to man up bro. Or start dockin xp for vaginitis.

[flatline]

I had a player like that once. My solution was to pick a weak enemy, something that the weakest party member could easily handle 1-on-1, and then I threw 50 of them at the party. The problem character was never in real danger, but the weaker characters were in danger of being overwhelmed by numbers.

Forcing this player to worry about the well being of the party rather than just his character caused something to finally click for him.

Maybe something similar would work for you. If you don't want to risk the other characters, make the enemy intent on capturing, but not killing, the party. Let the samuri be the hero for slaughtering a bunch of weakling enemies in order to protect the rest of the group and see if that experience doesn't help make him more of a team player.

--flatline

[Lao Tzume]

Flatline, I like that idea. I've been targeting him and putting him in the "tank" role. Maybe I should try and flip that. Have him protect the others by doing damage or jumping in front of others. I like that I idea a lot.

Also the not kill every enemy is a good idea too. That way he gets brought down a peg.

This helps. Thanks a lot guys.

[Chronicle]

Make the tough villian someone he would want to kill that way he has no choice in the matter. I once made a tough villian and named him after a popular boy singer so that the entire group wanted him dead.

[Dog_O_War]

Hey all,

I've been running a game and one of my characters is a little tougher to deal with than the rest. He's a challenge because he is playing a Cyber Samurai. The problem is he gets bored when he plows through everything but then he gets upset when you throw tougher enemies at him to try and up the stakes.

I guess what I'm looking for is how you've dealt with this situation with Borgs. I've thought of EMP grenades, his weight being an issue at an inopportune time (falling through the floor, being the most appealing target etc) and things like that but I am trying to figure out a way that I'm doing it to not seem like I'm targeting him specifically but in a way it makes sense. This player is also sort of sensitive as well.

Hopefully you can see my challenge.

Any tips or ideas are much appreciated. Thank you!

You could make him fight an untouchable enemy; a Juicer in some light armour isn't necessarily tough, but lasts a long time because of their bonuses and abilities in melee combat.

You could also start using unit tactics; a sniper on the top of one building with a jetpack that flees when he closes, and a two-man rocket team on the opposite end of the battlefield in a buggy ready to just shoot 'n scoot. Meanwhile you've got your regular combatants in the frey of things, making the situation as a whole about the terrain and not about the opponents themselves.

[Alrik Vas]

Yeah, Dog brings up a good point. The one thing to think about in the unique challenges of a Rifts game is that you shouldn't be depending on Fantasy ranges. People will end up in melee, sure, it will happen from time to time, but for the most part they'll be shooting at each other from a hundred or more yards away (or at least, you have the option). When it comes down to guns, whoever has the best mix of range, power and accuracy is generally going to win. Though in Rifts, armor matters as well. I'd give a guy here and there a force field so he doesn't have to dodge attacks and can cut loose on the cyber-samurai.

Though i still think you should deal with the person. It seems to me they're just immature.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Give him a challenge that does not involve combat.

[Jerell]

Is the rest of the party light enough to walk over an anti-tank mine?


"Your leg's off!"

"No it isn't"

Quicksand or a water filled pit trap could make things interesting too. Where does this campaign take place anyway?

[drewkitty ~..~]

Is the rest of the party light enough to walk over an anti-tank mine?


"Your leg's off!"

"No it isn't"

"It's but a flesh wound"

[Lao Tzume]

I appreciate all the replies. They really do help.

The campaign takes place in the Magic Zone in South Western Ohio. Between two towns, one called Nuke Pit Vally and the other Manaton Abbey.

[Jerell]

Sounds like the later should be called Megaton Abbey .

[Vrykolas2k]

Hey all,

I've been running a game and one of my characters is a little tougher to deal with than the rest. He's a challenge because he is playing a Cyber Samurai. The problem is he gets bored when he plows through everything but then he gets upset when you throw tougher enemies at him to try and up the stakes.

I guess what I'm looking for is how you've dealt with this situation with Borgs. I've thought of EMP grenades, his weight being an issue at an inopportune time (falling through the floor, being the most appealing target etc) and things like that but I am trying to figure out a way that I'm doing it to not seem like I'm targeting him specifically but in a way it makes sense. This player is also sort of sensitive as well.

Hopefully you can see my challenge.

Any tips or ideas are much appreciated. Thank you!

I've run into this sort of thing (in my wife's thread, dealing with the worst player archetypes, we call them two-fisted cowards). It can be frustrating to deal with. With a cyborg, robot pilot/ power armour pilot, I recommend hitting them with things that are "here one moment, gone the next" like a dragon hatchling. Traps of various sorts also work wonders. Eventually they either get tired of whining or hanging out in back and actually play, or they leave. The first is preferable but the latter result is acceptable.

[say652]

I deduct experience for cowardice. Dudes a Samurai dock xp for not following the Bushido AND not playing in character. Or have his clan cast him out for being a coward.

[flatline]

I deduct experience for cowardice. Dudes a Samurai dock xp for not following the Bushido AND not playing in character. Or have his clan cast him out for being a coward.

It was a tactical retreat!

--flatline

[say652]

I deduct experience for cowardice. Dudes a Samurai dock xp for not following the Bushido AND not playing in character. Or have his clan cast him out for being a coward.

It was a tactical retreat!

--flatline

Wr Battleragers call it a "Tactical Flanking Maneuver" yes sir we are going waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy left. Lol