Rhomphaia wrote:Prysus wrote:Greetings and Salutations. Just a few expanded notes on the situation.
1: The BWW have 24 hours to hunt you down. So sounds like they have a time limit. Opinion: Surviving 24 hours is probably a better strategy than trying to kill them (which I view as unlikely).
I was working from the standpoint of a number of assumptions, one of them being that given the stated size of the island, if you stay put in one spot, the BWW will find you. They are used to ferreting out hiding holes for slaves and whatnot. It is far better to keep moving.
Greetings and Salutations. I never said stand in one place. I said survive. If at some point you thought "survive" meant "stand in one place" then I apologize. I'm not sure how you'd get that, but that's not what was meant.
Rhomphaia wrote:Also, as I said, in a situation like this, if you allow yourself to go on the defensive, you are dead meat. You must take the BWW out of their game, turn them into the hunted. Even if you don't kill any of them, striking at them continually either directly or through a handful of traps will do just that.
If you actually read my post, you'd know that I agreed that traps can be very good at this. Not sure where you thought I said traps were a bad idea. Traps are great for slowing them down, keeping them guessing, etc. If at some point you read my saying just surviving the 24 hours (and even mentioned traps later) was a better strategy than going for the kill meant traps were suddenly forbidden, I apologize of that very odd misconception. I assure you I didn't mean traps were somehow bad just because I think going for the skill is a bad idea. Note: Traps do not necessarily mean death (in fact, in this case, are likely not to meant that).
Rhomphaia wrote:Prysus wrote:2: In addition to their AoI talisman, the suits and helmet of BWW are also M.D.C. Any hope of hurting them will involve the lower face (towards cheek and mouth), upper arms and hands (lower arms will have their wrist blaster which is probably M.D.C.), and their upper legs/thighs (because they have boots, which isn't explicitly stated as being M.D.C. only makes sense). Their AoI is just ADDED protection (and full body).
Yes, I did take this into account. You apparently missed the whole reference to "face/neck shot" in my original post.
Nope, didn't miss it at all. I'll start by saying: "A comment in this thread does not automatically make a comment directed towards you, Rhomphaia."
At this point, yes, I am addressing your points since you decided to address mine as a personal challenge to you. Setting aside in just about every picture of the BWW there neck has something on it as well as half their face covered, targeting the lower face
can still work. But a first level Vagabond will run into a lot of problems with that.
1: Hitting those spots require a 12 or higher to hit. Adding penalties to that strike is a G.M. call, but suggested in multiple Palladium Books. Rifts GM Guide on page 32 mentions penalties for smaller targets, RWB5: Triax has penalties for exposed areas on plain clothes armor, R:UE page 361 etc. Still, that doesn't mean a failure.
2: Vagabonds can't take Sniper (can't take Espionage skills), and at best you have a +3 to strike for aimed at level 1. So you have a 55% chance to hit and a 45% chance to miss. The odds are worse if penalties are included. This doesn't mean it can't work, but you have about the same odd as flipping a coin for success. People's opinions on whether or not that's worth it will vary, but I usually don't like that low of odds if I have another choice. This is a personal preference.
I could go so far as to argue that by the rules a head shot doesn't do more damage so you'd still have to go through full SDC and HP, but I think we can all agree that's pointless (and needless rules lawyering). I think most people who actually participate in this challenge will accept neck/face shots as far more damaging (myself included).
Rhomphaia wrote:Prysus wrote:4: In addition to Radar, all BWW have enhanced smell and hearing too. They also have extraordinary physical endurance (so fatigue is not likely to play a major part for them).
I really do not see your point here. Nothing I said is countered by this.
Well, I wasn't under the misguided belief that you were the only person in this thread. I provided information for everyone and anyone. If for some reason you feel that all posts in this thread center around your posts, then I apologize for that incorrect belief.
Rhomphaia wrote:See my point for #4. This does not impact my strategy at all.
Same as above. I'm really not sure why you decided this had to be some personal attack against your strategy. Unless you feel when I said (later) that you found an exception of the skill restriction and that was a good thing? Though I'm not sure why saying you did something good translates into negatively targeting you. I'm more curious than anything because I find it strange.
Rhomphaia wrote:Prysus wrote:6: BWW do have wrist blasters and net guns (which means they have some range options). Wrist blasters can be up to 1200 feet (so if they have you within their radar, they can shoot you).
Good luck using radar of any sort in a jungle at ground level.
Well, that would imply that the BWW is hampered by the jungle. Let's look at what penalties the BWW do have: Storms (of various types). Nope, I see nothing about a tree, a group of trees, or general congestion in the area blinding them. This is not technology, but a natural ability. Unless you can show me something in the book I missed, any additional penalties are house rules.
Note: Daredevil (comics) is a good example of someone who can do way more with Radar than technology probably would allow (of course, extent of abilities will vary depending on the writer at the time).
Rhomphaia wrote:Prysus wrote:their radar being able to detect which angle the bullet came from (it can sense direction) even if not in time to dodge (and once they know your position they can outrun you),
Show me a radar or echolocation system that can track a thumbnail-sized metal object moving at 2,700 fps in a jungle and I will concede this point.
Show me a real life BWW.
Oh wait ... they don't really exist, and we don't know the extent of their powers. Now, that doesn't mean that they can, guaranteed, track the bullet. What we know of their powers though, it's not out of the question. What we know is that they have radar, can sense speed and direction.
Though we do know real radar can track missiles (which can travel faster), so speed won't be the deciding factor here. So I guess the question is do you think the size is the deciding factor? If you took a bullet in your hand and threw it to a BWW a few feet away, would it just hit her and bounce off because she couldn't see it? Would she be able to detect a large bug flying around her? I would think yes, even if she didn't know what it was (though her other senses could probably clue her in).
Now does this mean it's guaranteed they'd pick up where the bullet came from? Nope. That would be up to the GM, and he might even include a penalty for them. But that's still a pretty big gamble in my opinion.
Rhomphaia wrote:Prysus wrote:or a bunch of other things (just my opinion).
Care to list them?
First, I'm not a sniper. But, I will say I don't plan on everything going perfect. I usually try to factor in little things going wrong that I hadn't ever counted on. When there are things I can see easily going wrong, I tend to figure there are several more than I'm missing. For instance, I could be wrong but the reason a sniper moves after every shot is so he doesn't get discovered. Why would they move if ... well, they couldn't be discovered? And if I can be discovered, why am I counting on a BWW being incapable of discovering me (especially when they can close that distance in a minute or less, within firing range probably within 15 seconds)?
Though in addition deduction, in addition to the radar, in addition to the hearing (I know you dismissed this, but I generally try not to dismiss how superhuman powers that I don't have work with certainty), in addition to bad luck with the wind (which you didn't originally mention), in addition to the 50% chance of the shot not even hurting her, in addition to something like just bad luck such as something else tipping them off (not necessarily related to me, but in the area and just happens to catch their attention) while I'm entrenched and waiting for my shot (while I would prefer to set up more traps, get some distance, try to mislead them, etc.) ... well, I'm out for the moment. Though I'm fairly sure that there are plenty of things I'm not including.
Rhomphaia wrote:Prysus wrote:Though if you are going to snipe, don't worry about LoS (which I remember seeing earlier), worry about being downwind because otherwise you risk them picking up on your scent as well.
You have a point about being downwind, but you do need to worry about LoS. Their radar and echolocation can track you if you are in plain view. However, laying down behind cover with just enough room to peek out of and well, there's a million such spots in the jungle. Combine that with the BWW's very simple inability to distinguish light and shadow (just shapes) and the jungle environment is your best friend and their worst enemy.
Well, I in general don't worry much about Line of Sight for people who can't see (especially when their sense don't work in a line, but could be 360 degrees since they can pick up the environment "around" them, not in front of). That's just me. Do I want to stay out of range of their radar? Sure. But if I'm 1200+ feet away, I can be standing up, sitting down, on my belly, on my head, waving hello, doing the cha-cha, and it's all the same since I'm out of their radar range (though they could potentially still hear or smell me depending on circumstances). Now if you mean Line of Sight as Range of their Radar, okay. I can agree with that.
For note: I'm not even trying to be overly technical. You'd be amazed at the things people don't realize, such as a Blind Warrior Woman are blind (don't have sight).
As for the rest, I'm not saying that anything was inherently wrong. I disagree with a sniper attack (unless you have no choice and are cornered and need to try something) though, and feel there are just too many risks involved with it. I still agree with traps and targeting the upper legs/thighs which gives you about a foot and a half room for error compared to the 4 inches or so you have exposed on their head. Larger marging of error, and if you take out the legs you inhibit their ability to pursue. Since this isn't lethal, it's not likely to trip sixth sense either. I just see too many advantages to going non-lethal and buying time instead of going for the kill where I increase my risks of something going wrong.
This is my take on it. Some agree, some don't. That's fine. I also believe in providing information for others to make their decisions. This is why I made a post discussing some of the facts for people to consider. Maybe someone else will come up with a plan that can blow all the ideas up to this point out of the water. That would be great! I'm all for new ideas, but to create a good plan it helps to know some of the limits first. Thank you for your time and patience, please have a nice day. Farewell and safe journeys for now.